#and way past that and how they’ve actually used their platform as a literal tv icon to show tons of different representations but i’ve found

[panikkar]

see okay on one hand i was not expecting buck to go bi tonight but on the other hand i was thinking that abc was gonna add some queerness to 911!!! maybe i’m biased bc i watched greys anatomy but especially in that show they’ve never been shy about writing queer stories! they literally introduced a bi character back in 2009. and not in like a “she’s bi and she’s gonna date one (1) woman and then never talk about it again” way it was straight up like “hey this character is gonna have serious queer relationships and then they’ll both have their own storylines and identities and then we’re gonna create a web of fictional queer doctors in this show and even have several different queer relationships at once and not just a few that all date each other” when literally the bar for the time wasn’t just low it literally didn’t exist. idk. anyways abc shows are for the queers!!!

[rhetorical-ink]

Haikyuu!! Top 5 Ships: Oikawa

** SOUTH AMERICAN SPOILERS BELOW **

Haikyuu!! is wonderful, in part because unlike other series, the sky’s the limit on how many ships can set sail and be embraced by the fandom. I wanted to go through some of my favorite characters from the series and my Top 5 favorite ships for them! 

Of course, we have to start with my favorite “Trash King”: Toru Oikawa! 

5. Kuroo x Oikawa

The rarest of the pairs in this post, but I find it hilarious that despite these two never sharing a panel of screen time together, Furudate loves to constantly sketch these two characters together. 

Personality-wise, these two actually have a lot in common. Kuroo gives off that “con man” vibe in Chapter 401 to those around him, and Oikawa is constantly being described as putting on a “fake persona” in public by Iwaizumi. But, both former captains have the respect of their team and are great leaders. 

These two together would be like two gossipy high school drama queens sent on a trip to the shopping mall together. Both physically exude that “sexy, too-hot-to-handle” persona, but in reality are a pair of nerds obsessing over aliens and docosahexaenoic acid. Maybe it would’ve been too much for the universe to handle had they shared a scene in the series together. At least we have Furudate’s sketches...

4. Ushijima x Oikawa

Okay, so I’ll be honest. I was not originally a fan of this pairing -- I mean, Ushijima’s practically Oikawa’s biggest rival outside of Kageyama, so how could anyone picture them romantically involved? 

Well, then I read this fan fiction, and I realized that there could be something there. Unlike Oikawa’s dislike/rivalry with Kageyama, that basically stems from his jealousy and insecurity that his kouhai will succeed him as the better setter, Oikawa’s main rivalry with Ushijima is just beating him in a match. Sure, Ushijima aggravates Oikawa in the series by labeling his pride as “worthless,” but we all know how our Grand King comes back to make Ushijima eat those words later on, don’t we?

I think there’s an aspect of this ship that is similar to the Iwaoi pairing -- in that Ushijima’s stoic, genuine, and grounded personality is polar opposite Oikawa’s calculating, put-on, and often petty persona. Ushijima is basically the antithesis of Oikawa in the series, but as a ship, his quiet reserve opens up a lot of avenues for Oikawa to be himself and -- fan fiction-wise -- have a platform to open up and monologue his way through personal growth. It’s not my favorite ship for Oikawa, but after reading the linked fan fiction, I can see the appeal.

3. Sugawara x Oikawa

Okay, so this ship is just fun. There’s such a creative fandom with OiSuga, whether it’s them as Slytherin wizards in a Hogwarts AU, or as college roommates, or pretty much any scenario, there is so much creativity with this pairing, partially because of just how intriguing a concept this ship is!

I think the draw of this pairing is how different it is from the more popular Oikawa ships, like Iwaoi. Sugawara is a “team mom” kind of like Iwaizumi, but Suga’s personality couldn’t be more different than Iwaizumi’s. Sugawara has a fiercely supportive stance as a teammate, but he’s also a setter, and a calculating/manipulative one at that -- much like Oikawa. It’s canon that Oikawa nicknames him “Mr. Refreshing,” because he’s so different from Kageyama in terms of communicating and reading his team -- similarly to Oikawa, it could be noted. And you have two pretty setter squad members who are easy on the eyes, but have much more going on under the surface in terms of insecurities, pride, and goals as third years. 

And you wouldn’t think that Oikawa would work paired with another setter, but since Sugawara isn’t a “Kageyama-level prodigy,” it gives Oikawa the ability to be the better player on the court, so his pride isn’t hurt, but leaves Sugawara available as the more emotionally stable, “cool” partner. Plus, the two can share their own insecurities about being “replaced” by Kageyama as the better setter, but Sugawara can shut down any trash talk by Oikawa if it gets too overbearing. 

Basically, you have two characters who are more similar than they appear, but still have enough differences to be an interesting duo. It’s like if a sour patch kid and a candy apple hooked up. I’ll let you decide which is which. 

2. Hinata x Oikawa

So...Furudate has laid the groundwork for this ship since the first time Hinata spiked that ball past “The Great King,” but it wasn’t until the Rio mini arc that we really got this ship to come into its own. Hence why I put a spoiler tag on this post, for you anime-only’s who haven’t been blessed with the greatness that is the Rio Arc. 

Of any pairing in Haikyuu!! One could argue Hinata and Oikawa have done the most “shippy” things, with the exception of #1 below. I mean, they’ve:

* Taken the most epic, beautiful selfie together and sent to their exes rivals * Went on multiple dinner dates together (during the day and at night) * Are on a literal first-name basis  * Played two-on-two beach volleyball together (multiple times) * HUGGED ON LIVE TV DURING THE OLYMPICS 

I’ve wanted to post more on this, but Oikawa and Hinata actually have a lot in common, besides being Kageyama’s rival. They’re both naturally athletic, though definitely not “geniuses” or “prodigies” like Kageyama or Hoshiumi. They’re just two individuals who literally live and breathe volleyball and try to push themselves to their limits at being the best they can be. And their dynamic works really well -- Oikawa may be petty and snarky, but Hinata takes it all in stride and is a literal walking ball of unphased sunshine. Oikawa would probably think he has the upper hand in the relationship; at least, until Hinata speaks up and shows he’s not quite as naive as he appears. He’s just literally that optimistic/nice. One can definitely see the appeal of shipping these two similar-but-different characters. 

While some ship it as just a “fling in Rio,” and some ship it more as a fantastically developed friendship -- I mean, Hinata went on to play for Brazil, so you KNOW those two kept playing each other in matches and at training camps -- it’s still become one of the most unexpected, yet welcomed Oikawa pairing!

1. Iwaizumi x Oikawa

Okay, so this shouldn’t surprise anyone. But yeah, Iwaizumi and Oikawa have been paired up since the start of this series, and for good reason. 

There is so much to like about the pairing: The childhood friend aspect; the Setter/Spiker dynamic Haikyuu!! is so infamous for; how Iwaizumi takes none of Oikawa’s dramatic self and pushes past the “bs” to make sure Oikawa takes care of himself; how Oikawa teases Iwaizumi, yet is always by his side; how the two are so in sync, despite their different personalities; godzilla vs aliens...

...but I think I love best how they, similar to Hinata and Kageyama, are rivals who pursued their dreams: Oikawa making it to the Olympics on the team of his idol and mentor, and Iwaizumi as an Athletic Trainer on the team of his idol and mentor’s son. It’s so poetic, and I love in the final chapter that they finally get to face each other...even if it’s not “technically” against each other in a game.

This ship is probably one of the most iconic in Haikyuu!! and it’s hard to say anything that hasn’t already been stated, but I love it. There’s a reason it works so well, and Furudate has blessed us with all the hints and crumbles of canon for us fans to work with. Again, the greatest gift Haikyuu!! has given us is the fact that we can ship so many different characters together, and it all for the most part fits. ^^

[incarnateirony]

The way I see it is this: the threshold for het couple canon and queer couple canon should be the same. Wanting more than a handhold or whatever is *fine*, but whatever standard het romance is held to (the bare minimum to "count") should be the same for queer couples. We say all the time, "if one of them was a girl it would already be canon." Not bc of *potential* kissing, but bc it would be seen that way bc of what's already there. But you've said most of this already, so basically I agree lol!

Yup! That’s just it. If Detty or any other non-kissing couples can be taken as canon, so can queer ones, if the text is thoroughly framing it in every method equally. That’s how it works, actually! Applying a different standard *is* homophobic. And a few years ago, Destiel fandom actually knew this and pointed it out but somehow in this weird version of political extremization that we have around here, the pendulum has flipped around and knocked the octavarium on the ass from the other side.

Because people think that means you’re telling them to settle– of course it isn’t! Or making them “feel bad” for wanting more– nope! Now, will we make you feel bad if you make up a goal post where nothing counts until [your explicit marker]? Yeah, probably, cuz yeah, that’s problematic. Does it make them feel small? Tough shit tbh. For the last year or so I’ve dealt with people taking warped and extremized viewpoints to try to bulldoze over me and when I finally said “ENOUGH” and slapped back with a brick wall of history and perspective, they all cried it’s mEaN. No, you guys just don’t know what to do when your placebo activism turns out to not have substance versus the actual issues at hand, and yeah, you feel small and yeah, you feel bad. 

Especially when you realize misdirected and empty gay rage got you nowhere except a hand full of very old very directed old gay rage in counter, and you really can’t cry victim after stomping on the work of activists ahead of you. If you spent years stomping on people and they finally stomp back, and you try to cry to someone as the victim, that’s literally playschool bully behavior. Grow up. When the nerd you’ve been trying to pick on for getting you to reconsider your ways turns out to have been schooled in 6 forms of martial arts and launches your ass to the nurse’s office when you come for round 14 of trying to give him a black eye, all your complaining is about being embarrassed that the nerd kicked your ass after trying to patiently deal with you this whole time. Again, playschool bullshit. Again, grow up.

This isn’t you (not Nonnie-you, just the Royal You, that know who You are) arguing with homophobes or antis anymore. Antis have even cracked in waves. Shipping-fandom-cosplaying-as-activism has completely lost the plot on what their activism lines mean but, a trained routine in thinking it was unvanquishable, have turned it against the wrong things, in the wrong way, and their own people and content. There’s now a few YEARS of “activists” flaying people for, while not 100% happy with the level of content, supporting the queer authors and content and lifting it up – warping it into lines of “settling” to attack them, to diminish them, to make THEM feel small and their own podium – now warped beyond recognition from its original position like a goddamn tea party – big and righteous; and when finally someone clobbers them with a big fat dose of reality of how far they’ve mutilated the dialogue in the name of ship warring, they complain about feeling small. And I’m sorry, fucking no. Not a soul is here to make you feel bad for wanting more. They’re here to make you feel bad for queerphobic deletion and goalpost jockeying. 

As I’ve had to say like a repeating song chorus: You can do both: want and hope and push for more, while *not* deleting the queer text and efforts at hand. Complex thought processes are less appealing to many people than linear pile driving, but it’s generally how the universe functions. And when it comes down to realizing they’re setting unlevel goalposts for the levels they *want* to push it to, suddenly yeah, there’s a rug pull, and they have a choice to pull left or right. If they double down, that’s their choice. But I don’t have to humor that choice or give it platform.

But one thing I hold 0% patience for is people saying they’re here for the rep fight while simultaneously pretending there isn’t a rep fight and trying to villainize core elements like incrementalization or struggling queer authors, many of which beg for public understanding.

We could be having nuanced conversation about the values of different forms of representation; we could be having nuanced conversation about how to effectively organize to help these queer authors into better situations. We could be talking about the show’s evolutionary path, or even culture’s social evolution path and how this show will age with public perception over the years. We could be comparing it to stages of LGBT history.

But we’re not. We’re having conversations where people, abandoning their former angle of discussion, are now screaming “pics or it didn’t happen”, are now tossing up goalposts they themselves used to call homophobic only a few years ago, are now rewiring the dictionary or entire AV medium study (sometimes while claiming themselves an authority while literal cinema literacy sources and decades of studies or even just flat-ass LGBT history say they’re wrong) because they want to feel righteous for demanding more without any actual organized effort or support. They want so desperately for the remaining upset to pass as activism. So badly to flatten even other LGBT community members for trying to hold up the queer canon, because it wasn’t the canon they wanted. And once they realize someone cast Reflectga and their own bullshit methods mow them down, this time with amplified substance of the actual world beyond, they cry foul, that *they*, not the people they’ve been trying to mow over, are being cruelly bullied, just because someone said – no, enough, you’re acting like clowns, I’m fucking over biting the bullet to listen to you on it, you are well past the pale folks.

Miss me with it, fandom. If I have to explain any further than this why one of these is activism and one of these is not, then you’re already beyond hope in the field anyway. I’m not here for your petty ship war nonsense. The representation clearly isn’t for you little fucking tumblr goblins so willing to shred it for not performing to and for you how and when you want regardless of circumstance, much less if you’re even in the damn demographic being represented to goddamn begin with. No, a cis lesbian doesn’t get to tell a trans person how their rep should look. A trans man actually can’t tell a cis gay man how his should look either because their paths are fucking different. 

No, a bunch of women should not be bulldozing over and deleting shit and say it’s For The Gay Men while the vast majority of LGBT men in this fandom hide away in recesses because they’re tired of being bulldozed over if they don’t comply with the shitty fandom dialogue. Or the few that do that warp into it and abandon their original points just from sheer peer pressure – often younger ones, often outside of the demographic. They certainly shouldn’t be trying to flame a middle aged male queer & all other liberal and socially conscious rights rights media representation-commenting activist for writing within his limits about middle aged queer male content. That isn’t how this. Mother. Fucking. Works. I shouldn’t HAVE to have little cluster hoards of LGBT men I adopt that hide in DM or outside of fandom space entirely and poke their nose out with peeps of cautious gratitude and fish around to see how supportive I *really* am – it *shouldn’t* have surprised one of my newly made best friends that I understood the problematic nature of penetration culture and heteronormative ideas of MLM in this fandom. Or to cautiously click my recs because they’re worried about getting fucking ass stomped for daring to speak up on their own representation. It shouldn’t BE like that.

You wanna support queer creators? Y’all missed that boat because you were too busy being headass to organize and actually petition the network. No, screaming at execs until they delete social media and put a black mark on the idea, @’ing accounts with spam until you’re put on a mute list and negatively impact marketing algorithms, that’s not petitioning. Building portfolios and presentations delivered sensibly are. A few did. Good for those people. Fuck everyone else. Virtue signaling nonsense. No wonder they’re so enamored with shitty mass marketing as a goal.

“WELL IT SHOULDN’T BE THAT WAY!”

Yeah well welcome to being a grown up. It is, whether you like it or not. It’s hard out here. America shouldn’t have a giant orange cheeto racist for its president either and yet here we fucking are. Life isn’t fair. So figure out how to actually put feet on the ground and change it instead of yodeling online like a bunch of idiots at the people trying to help you. Bobo sure as fuck did a long fucking time ago and never stopped. Maybe you should catch up. Cuz even at “slow and steady wins the race” he’s gone miles ahead of you while you’ve been distracted anally grooming like a cat or some shit.

Imagine how (not) far queer rights would get if every incremental step we took, even if it wasn’t far enough – TV or real life – we just let everyone scream and take away entirely because it wasn’t the kind you wanted. It’s regressive garbage. It doesn’t actually do you any benefit. It doesn’t do the community any benefit. It doesn’t do queer creators any benefit. It doesn’t do queer cinema history any benefit. Nobody but homophobes and other agenda’ed asshats benefit. Which is why they trained you to think like this to begin with. Stop.

[exkernal]

Philosophy Class for Rock Bottom Demons: 2/3

Maybe coming to Earth wasn't such a great idea after all.

Michael's in that gaudy Arizona dive bar, but it's gaudy in an Eleanor-way, like Minion plushies and shrimp dispensaries. The light's too bright here, like a spotlight that won't stop following him. It's jarring, seeing Eleanor in that little red dress; he's so used to "Real Eleanor's" conservative garb.

"Look, surprisingly sexy bartender, I'ma tell it to you straight: it's my birthday and I want to make some bad decisions. Like baaaad. You know what I'm talkin' 'bout."

He doesn't.

"If it's not you, it's going to be my Uber driver. I've already hooked up with three Uber drivers. And I'm not saying that the last one was a budding serial killer or anything, but I am saying that I can't rule him out as not a budding serial killer either. So what's it going to be?"

"Um, what?" Michael says. He wonders if there's another glass for him to pretend to clean.

"Come on, man," Eleanor slides closer to him. Too close: there's no space between them anymore. Eleanor's finger curls around his white hair. "Do you want me or not?"

Well, okay then. Yes. Okay. This is...yes.

He kissed Eleanor before, one night under the Michael-made stars, the night when they were both desperate enough to willingly venture into the depths of hell (and that's not even a cheesy metaphor). It shouldn't shock him so much to feel her body against his, to feel her hands running through his hair and cupping his face. The sensation of her tongue in his mouth is still strange, but he's a fast learner. He can't recall why he was so adamantly against kissing before.

As it escalates, going faster than he can anticipate, he hears voices in his head. One that sounds like Janet reminds him that the Judge could check on them at any moment. One that sounds like Chidi at the height of his philosophy professor glory frets about the morality of his actions. Then there's Shawn's voice, telling him to ignore that four-eyed, Kant-loving dweeb.

He's a bit concerned about that last voice, though not enough to stop.

*****

"Okay, so it definitely wasn't a good idea to piss off the Judge, and I'm sorry for getting us trapped on Earth--"

"Michael," Janet interrupts. "It's fine. Let's go help the humans."

"Right," Michael says. His smile takes over his entire face. "Let's go."

*****

Michael's stuck here on Earth until the inevitable death of the universe (but no one likes spoilers). While the humans are alive, he'll do everything in his power to get them into the Good Place. After that...well, after that he'll still have Janet. They'll figure it out from there.

"I still look like me, right?" he asks Janet as the two of them hang out in their new journalism department headquarters. It's night now, the time when he and Janet, as two sleepless beings, can truly talk.

"What do you mean?" Janet says.

"My fingers don't look more, uh, tentacle-like, do they? I don't look more on fire than usual?"

She smiles knowingly. "You look the same as always, Michael. Your demonic appearance isn't slipping through."

"Oh good," he says. For a moment he was afraid that he'd live out his earthly existence as a Godzilla monster.

At night, he thinks about the point system. He keeps noticing all of the little ways that humans lose points. Littering. Sneezing into their hands then touching a railing. Listening to music in public without earbuds. Listening to country music, period. But then, he's also noticing the little acts of kindness: picking up someone else's litter; holding the door open; offering up a tissue and reassurance to a crying stranger at a bus stop.

Not for the first time, he wonders how the points are weighed. Why does bingeing trash TV and making rude comments cancel out someone's sincere if imperfect effort to change? Why don't they count up the million little ways a person's presence can bring out the best in someone else?

*****

This was a horrible decision. Why hadn't he listened to Janet when she tried to warn him? Why did he always ruin everything?

"Michael," Janet says softly. "Please talk to me."

"It's all my fault," he says hollowly. "I should've listened to you. I shouldn't have meddled."

"It is true that everyone should listen to me because I'm a being who literally knows everything," Janet says, but the joke doesn't land with Michael, not right now. "The past is the past. Beating yourself up won't change it."

"All I wanted was to get them into the Good Place," he says. He should be crying, like he did on the platform, but for some reason he can't feel anything. Just numbness, like he's lost his link to his corporeal body. "Now, because of me, they will definitely go to the Bad--"

His voice cracks. Oh, there it is: those tricky, pesky emotions.

Janet's arm slinks around his shoulders. He lets himself sink into her surprisingly warm embrace.

"I'm no expert," she says, "but I think this is just another part of being human; accepting that not everything will go your way."

He supposes she's right.

"Come on," she says. "Let's try some authentic Earth froyo."

*****

"What's the big deal, Eleanor? She found a man who makes her happy. And, if you ask me, she made a good choice. Do you know how awesome it is to talk architecture with someone who actually knows what they're talking about? Someone who doesn't just want to add more spider volcanoes and blood rivers? It's so refreshing! Such a creative challenge! Such a--"

"Michael!" Eleanor snaps, arms crossed over her chest. "Focus, dude!"

"Oh, uh, sorry, got a little sidetracked," he smiles sheepishly.

"Look, dude, Dave might be your BFF now, but women like my mom don't go for guys like him without an ulterior motive."

"Why not?" Michael asks, confused.

"Puh-lease. The Donna Shellstrops of the world are trashy but in a hot way, with bods that just won't quit even after all of the questionable things they've put them through. Dave's a dork with glasses and a boner for architecture--no offense."

Offense very much taken. He doesn't know why he's so affronted by Eleanor's skepticism, but he is, deeply. Maybe he's offended on behalf of his new friend. Yeah, that's definitely the reason.

And what's so bad about glasses, anyway? He happens to think they make a person look refined.

*****

"Those are my memories," Eleanor says. "I want them back."

But here's the thing: Eleanor doesn't know Michael this go around, not really. She knows Michael the Benevolent Being, Michael the Slightly Eccentric Force for Good. The Michael who may have done some questionable things in the past, but is now her biggest supporter.

She doesn't know Michael the Demon, who begged for help while calling her a disgusting little cockroach. The Michael who gleefully tortured her, then cackled in her face when she found out. She doesn't know Michael the Manipulator, the Michael who tortured Chidi for petty fun, the Michael of ill-advised hookups.

That Michael is better off forgotten.

That's the reason why he doesn't want to show her. Well, the main reason. He's also sick of all the schmoopsy lovey Chidi moments, yuck. Don't get him wrong, he knows Chidi is good for Eleanor. He helps her become a better person, and if nothing else, he wants her to be her best self. But does he really need that love fest paraded around in front of him?

Once she's finished, he starts babbling. She cuts him off.

"I'm not mad at you. I can't be mad at a demon for being evil."

Well. He's not sure how to feel about that. He should be relieved that she's not mad, but he's not. She expects demons to be evil? Does Eleanor expect him to be evil?

Of course, she starts ranting about how super intelligent tarantula squids control everything, so he doesn't have time to dwell on it.

*****

Erasing Chidi's memory is absolutely the right decision; he knows because Chidi, the czar of moral philosophy, says so. But as he learned at his first annoying philosophy class, the right thing is often as painful as any torture he could dream up.

It was also right to show Chidi and Eleanor their joint memories, as painful as that is. They deserve this. He stays back to give them privacy, but he doesn't leave completely, because it's better to get the memory wipe over with.

Distance doesn't matter much to demons, anyway. He can still see them cry and comfort each other. His chest feels tight and painful, like it's burning. Wait, is is? Did his human outfit slip somehow? But no, he's still regular Michael. His chest just aches unbearably because he can't stand watching Chidi and Eleanor hurt.

Especially Eleanor.

*****

When Eleanor asks if his freak out was fake in her you-sly-dog voice, he smiles tightly, shuffles his feet, and agrees.

Lying is probably the right decision.

*****

He has no proof, but he's pretty sure that pink pastel wallpaper was invented in the Bad Place. It certainly feels like torture, staring at the walls of Mindy's bedroom. He could always leave, he supposes, but he'd rather face Derek's creepy sex toys than the humans right now.

So of course that's the moment that Eleanor walks through the door.

"Hey," she says, playing with the hem of her blue shirt. He's grown rather fond of her impeccable Fake Architect wardrobe. One of his favorite parts of the experiment is coordinating outfits with her.

"Hey," he says thickly, barely looking up.

"Can I sit down?"

"Sure."

The mattress dips with her weight.

"Michael, I want you to know that I never stopped trusting you, I just...wasn't sure how good an actor Vicki is."

"She sucks," Michael says. "My Australian accent's so much better."

He thinks Eleanor's smiling.

"Right. Still, I should've known. Sorry."

He shrugs. "I shouldn't have lied. I'm sorry too."

"Look at us, two pathetic chumps apologizing and shirt."

"Heh."

"Hey, bud?" Eleanor says. "What's on your mind?"

"Nothing," he says quickly.

Eleanor is surprisingly gentle when she says, "I thought we said no more lying."

That startles him enough to look up.

"I--" he starts. He bunches his pant legs in his fists. "It's--I can't explain it."

"It's about the fire squid thing, isn't it?"

"No!" he shouts. "No, it's...okay," he admits, shoulders sagging, "it's about the fire squid thing."

"Michael, nothing's changed," she says, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We still love you the same. Actually, scratch that, Jason probably loves you more now. Seriously, dude, you're gonna have to strip for him if you ever want him to shut up."

Michael snorts despite himself.

"I know I'm probably being stupid--"

"You are definitely being stupid," she cuts him off. "Knock it off. We can only afford one Jason Mendoza in this group."

"Yeah, okay. It's just.. hard, sometimes, being the only demon."

"Do you want us to keep gloopy Glenn?"

"No, Glenn sucks. Okay, maybe that's just Shawn's millennia of bullying talking. What I mean is, I don't always know my place. I tortured you guys, I manipulated you. and it's--I'm not that person anymore, but at the same time, part of me sort of is. I don't know if I'm explaining it right."

"I think I get it," Eleanor says, putting her hand in his. "I've changed so much that sometimes I want to strangle my old self. But at the same time, I can't completely move away from that hot Arizona dumpster fire, because she helped make me who I am today."

"Yes, exactly," he nods. "When I'm with you humans and Janet, I finally feel like I belong. Sometimes I forget that I'm really a, a fire squid, and convince myself that this dashingly good looking body is the real deal. So when I'm confronted with the truth--when my friends found out the truth--"

"But it's not the truth," Eleanor says. "You are who you chose to be; that's the real you. Your friends love you for you, whether you want to be a fire squid or dapper silver fox."

There's that warm chest feeling again, only it's not painful this time.

"You were always my favorite," he tells Eleanor. He's not sure why he's telling her, but it feels right. "I love all of you, but if I had to pick a favorite human, it's you."

"Thanks, man," she says. "You're my favorite demon."

"Low bar," he mutters, and they both laugh.

He looks at Eleanor. He really looks at her.

"Do you want your memories back?" he asks.

She looks at him sharply. "You can do that? What about Janet's machine thingy?"

"I don't need it in the afterlife," he says, standing up in excitement. This is a risky decision, but it's the right one. She deserves to know all of it, and all of him. "Do you want them or not?"

"Here yeah I do. Fork it, let's do it."

He snaps his fingers.

It only takes a fraction of a second, but he can see them all dancing in Eleanor's blue-green eyes.

"Holy forking shirt!" she says. "Wow. Just wow."

Her eyes find his.

"So we have a bit of a complex relationship, huh?"

"What do you mean?" he asks. Why is he suddenly so twitchy?

"I mean, I know I'm a total hottie and everything, but I hooked up with everybody in the afterlife. Chidi, Tahani, you."

"Oh," Michael says. "That."

Suddenly, the pile of gross sex toys is the most fascinating thing in the room.

"Yes, that," Eleanor stands up, forcing his attention back to her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Um," he says. "Sorry?"

"Don't be sorry, doofus," she says, swatting his shoulder. "I was the driving force both times. I can see why I'm your favorite now, unless you swap spit with other humans I don't know about."

"First of all, gross. That's gross. Second of all, no."

"Seriously, though, do you want to talk about it? Your feelings, I mean."

He does not. He'd rather get zapped into ooze like poor stupid Glenn or try out that demon strip tease (well, not really). But he's no longer the person who pouts and runs people over with trolleys to avoid his feelings.

So here goes nothing.

"I'm still not great with human feelings. I only just learned why you should never lie to your friends--sorry again. All I can really say is that I care about you. You make me want to be my best self."

Eleanor looks at him. He can't read her face.

"You know I'm in love with Chidi, right?" she says. He knows; he doesn't need her to say. "But you're like the best friend I've ever had. Like ever. I don't know if soulmates are real, but if they are, you're my best friend soulmate. I hope that's good enough."

"Oh, Eleanor," he says. His throat feels tight. "Of course that's enough."

"C'mere, you big softie," she says, pulling him into a tight embrace. He thinks hugs are one of his favorite human things. It's definitely up there, just ahead of paper clips.

She lets go. "Okay, now go kick Shawn's ash."

Oh, he definitely will.

[piracytheorist]

Though The Sun May Not Rise Again (1/1)

Summary: And so the world is ending. Their humanity, though, is not. Post-apocalyptic AU.

Warning: This fanfiction includes themes of natural mass disaster, mentions of blood, off-screen background character deaths, discussions about death, as well as implied, eventual, untimely major character deaths. Proceed with caution.

Thanks to @fraddit for her quick and effective advice!

Word count: ~2.7k AO3

Nobody expects the world to end that way.

Killian finds himself in a subway station at around 11 pm when what feels like the strongest earthquake ever shakes the whole place. People are literally thrown to the end of the platform, the train that he just missed flies off the tracks to a horribly rough landing against the wall. Light bulbs and TV screens crack and the station is filled by screams of fear and pain.

What it feels like hours later, the earth stops moving and the few people left that are able to move struggle their way to the surface. Killian loses his breath at the sight - and not in a good way.

Towers, skyscrapers - they’re all gone. Very few buildings are left, and even fewer of them look only slightly damaged. The roads are filled with blood and bodies - in one or more pieces, too.

Heavily injured people stretch their arms out in despair, some too speechless to actually call for help. Killian and the other survivors try to help, but it doesn’t take them long to realize that help isn’t coming at all.

The first vehicle they see in hours is a reporter van. There’s only the driver in it, his head poorly bandaged. He doesn’t say a word when they approach him, only leads them to the back of the van, where he puts on a video for them.

It’s a broadcast from the International Space Station, the people on camera frantically trying to say that the Earth has stopped spinning on its axis. It wasn’t earthquakes that ruined the cities - it was the Earth’s own atmosphere that apparently didn’t stop with the Earth. Then it’s images from space, and what Killian sees is so surreal he wonders if he’s dreaming.

He’d never wondered what would happen in such a case, but he guesses it makes sense that just because the Earth stopped spinning, nothing would stay where it was. But it’s just different to actually see waves rise from the ocean and literally swallow the ground - all of Europe, the west coasts of Africa and the Americas, India and southwest Asia, even more than half of Australia, all swept up by huge tsunamis. Any place that had big bodies of water on its west is now gone.

Killian watches the video again and again, a heavy emptiness in his chest as he watches the British Isles disappear under the waves. He had some third-fourth cousins there. And of course, his scumbug of a father. Yet he keeps watching it, every time making it feel even less real.

It only sinks in when, hours later, he walks out from the half-underground assembly station the van took them at, it’s 9 am yet still dark, and significantly colder than he’d expect for October. He sinks to the ground, shaking from sobs.

He still sits outside on the slowly freezing ground when that same van arrives at the station. He looks at it, realizing his breath is now coming out in a cloud, and he counts the survivors coming out of it. One, two, three, four - a child that isn’t holding anyone’s hand, five, six-

His breath is cut short again when he sees Emma exit the van. She’s alive! He stands up slowly, his legs feeling colder by the second and he runs to her, wrapping his arms around her. She’s slow to return the embrace, he can feel her trembling breath against his shoulder, but that’s alright. She’s safe. She survived. She may still be aloof as ever and not even consider getting into a relationship with him now that the world’s ending - what the bloody hell is he thinking?! - but she’s here and she’s alive.

“You’re alive,” he says. It’s the first words he says since the disaster.

~

He watches her nearly gulp her food down as he holds his chin in his hand, trying to conceal how much it’s trembling. She also happened to be underground at the time of the “stop”, but her exit had been blocked and she with the other ten survivors had stayed trapped until just an hour or so ago.

One of the calmest survivors has managed to move the equipment from the van and contact the ISS.

The Earth is now tidally locked to the sun, they say.

What’s left of the Americas is stuck on the side that’s not being lit by it, they say.

Even if they survive the freezing temperatures and the detriment of civilization, they’ll never see the sun again, they say.

~

The Earth’s magnetic field will fade away and deadly radiation from space will enter its atmosphere. The dark side will be too cold for plants to grow even with artificial light, and the light side too hot. The inbetween parts will be wrecked by storms created from the exchange of hot and freezing air from both sides. No-one knows exactly how many people survived the “stop”, but it won’t be too long before the oxygen runs out and they suffocate.

“So what do you think?” Emma asks him on day three. “What will we die from? The cold? Radiation? Suffocation?”

“Starvation,” he says, looking at the tinned food the group has managed to scavenge. It’s not enough to last all of them long enough. There’s no doubt there’s more out there, but it would take the courage to actually risk the trek in the cold, and that’s even if the group agrees to risk using up more of the van’s limited gas.

It’s not like there are any gas stations left.

Day six, the power generator stops working. One of the survivors manages to create a dynamo-like extension to at least provide enough energy to listen to the daily announcements from the ISS. The survivors scavenge for wood to burn in the station’s only fireplace. With destroyed homes around, it’s not that hard. No-one says how they fear that’ll probably make the oxygen run out faster.

Day twelve, three of the group leave, desperate to search for more supplies. Only one returns.

Day forty, the ISS says everything on the light side is boiling. There are zero confirmed and zero estimated survivors on that side.

“Never thought I’d miss the sun that much,” Killian tells Emma. “Haven’t missed it that much, but still.”

Day sixty-three, the van returns with more supplies and an empty gas tank.

With the lives lost to illnesses and lack of medicine, the rations aren’t that bad. But they’re probably the last they’ll have.

Day seventy-five, the ISS says they predict people on the dark side have about a year left of oxygen and protection from radiation.

Day seventy-five in the evening, Killian confesses his feelings to Emma.

“I’ve been in love with you since long before the disaster. I’ve feared it didn’t matter if I said anything now. But then I thought, bloody hell, the world is ending. Now’s as good as any time.”

“There’s no room for love in this world,” she says, her face fallen.

He didn’t expect anything better; he knew how much she’s been hurt in the past. “I’m not asking for anything. I just wanted you to know.”

Day eighty-two, Emma and Killian play Never Have I Ever with a half-full, forgotten bottle of rum. When he next wakes, he doesn’t remember sleeping with her tucked in his arms; he supposes she doesn’t, either, but his heart warms when she doesn’t move away upon waking up.

Day ninety-seven, Emma kisses him.

“I kind of wanted to wait for the hundredth day, for some stupid reason, but couldn’t,” she says, shaking her head.

She looks at him with a slightly apologetic face, but he simply leans back in and captures her lips in his.

Day hundred and six, there are about seven survivors left.

“So are you two gonna propagate the species or what?” Keith tells Killian when they’re on their own.

His hand shouldn’t hurt so much from punching the bastard in the face, should it?

“Lack of vitamin D, you idiot,” Victor says as he wraps a bandage that has seen better days around Killian’s knuckles. “Causes muscle and bone pain, and slower healing.” He then looks at Keith, whose nose is bleeding probably more than it would if they had sunlight. Victor just shakes his head. “Next time, you could use your hook,” he whispers to Killian, then flinches. “Not in... not in that way. You- you know what I mean.”

Day hundred and thirty, Killian wakes alone. By now he’s gotten used to the perpetually dark sky. He almost always used to wake up before the sunrise, so much that it had become part of his morning routine. But now his own body knows not to expect it, knows that when he’ll walk to the kitchen area for his breakfast rice and tea, he shouldn’t expect to see the telltale blue of dawn peeking out on the horizon.

Doesn’t mean he doesn’t miss it, of course.

Emma is sitting in front of the window, far from the fireplace, a blanket draped across her shoulders. She’s found a spot on the window that isn’t frosted over, and there’s a clear view of the sky, the stars, and the waxing moon. Grabbing a blanket himself, he sits down with her, hugging her from behind.

He’s welcomed by a familiar scent when he’s close enough. “Is that cinnamon?” he says softly.

She looks back at him sheepishly. “It’s just a sprinkle.” She shows him the cup in her hands... that’s definitely not tea. “Ruby found a mix for hot chocolate and I said that someone should have a first taste of it. It’s not as good without milk...” Her face falls.

He’s surprised how he can still feel a small pang in his heart over her disappointment. They’ve all lost so much and watched much more being lost, they’re now living in a world none of them could ever have prepared for, yet their hearts are still soft enough to understand the loss of something so small as good hot chocolate and why Emma would sneak away a sprinkle of cinnamon to make it better.

“It’s okay,” he says, kissing her hair.

What he doesn’t say is how they’ve reached the point where the existence or lack of spices makes such a difference in their moods.

“Ten days of moonlight,” Emma whispers.

He turns his attention back to the sky. “These days I think I understand why ancient cultures made the moon a deity.”

Emma sighs. “I don’t know. Half the time I just look at it and think how it’s taunting us with the sunlight we can’t have anymore.”

Now he feels a bigger pang in his heart. He hadn’t thought of it that way. “I see it like- like... a memory.”

She scoffs.

“It’s like my tattoo of Milah. When I- after I lost her, and before I met you... it was in memory of what I’d had, not what I’d lost.”

He watches her as she wraps her hand around her swan necklace. “Didn’t peg you as such an optimist.”

“It’s not optimism, Swan. I’d never thought I’d be capable of moving on until I met you.”

She looks at him for a moment, lips parted, before she smiles a bit and drops her eyes. “They did use to say that the moon spurs romantic spirit, didn’t they?”

He smiles at her light-hearted joke in face of his confession, and when she looks up at him, he leans in for a kiss, tasting cocoa and cinnamon.

Day hundred and fifty-eight, there’s no transmission from the ISS.

Day hundred and sixty-three, everyone has accepted the fact that there won’t be any more of those.

Emma and Killian sit cuddled together in front of the half-frosted window, looking at the full moon and wondering where the estranged space station might be now - if it’s still in order even.

“Do you think they’ll wanna make babies up there?” she asks.

“Is that even possible?”

“I think I saw a video once. The baby may turn out... weird? Cause of the lack of gravity.” She flinches. “Wonder how the mom would push it out without gravity’s help, too.” She’s silent for a moment, before adding, “Would you have a baby with me, if we were up there?”

A warmth spreads in his chest. “What you said about the lack of gravity makes it questionable. But I think yes.”

“What would you name it?”

“Alice, if it’s a girl. For my mother.”

“And a boy?”

He smiles widely. How different that discussion would be if the world wasn’t ending.

“I’d leave that to you.”

She smirks. “Chicken.”

He notices how she doesn’t ask why he wouldn’t give his father the same honor he’d give his mother.

She turns back front to look at the sky. “What do you miss the most?” she asks.

“As weird as it may sound, the water. My boat.”

“Why would it sound weird?”

He snorts. “I mean, with all the ice around... who would have known we’d live through an apocalypse where there’s an endless supply of water?”

She laughs softly.

“What do you miss?”

“I do miss that yellow Bug. It barely got any damage during the Stop, unlike other cars in that garage. But we could barely fit through the opening ourselves, much less a car. And I don’t think I was thinking clearly enough at the time to think it was the last time I’d see it.”

There’s not much he’d have taken with him, had he known the world would be ending. Now he resorts to working the dynamo for hours, just enough for the tiniest bit of battery on his phone just so he can turn it on and look at the photos of his mother and brother he has saved in it, before it turns off again.

The tiniest part of him is jealous of Emma for not having such a thing to miss.

Day two hundred.

It’s quiet.

Emma is lying awake next to him, sensing what he doesn’t want to share.

It could be just a simple, minor infection that’ll go away on its own, he’s only had minor stomach pains. Though Emma’s occasional comment about his high pain tolerance worries him that it may be much worse than he thinks.

Still, since they lost Victor, there hasn’t been much they can do when they feel sick or unwell. It will either pass... or they will.

“You once asked me what I thought we’d die from,” he says.

Her brows furrow and she swallows hard.

“If I could choose... I’d go with cold.”

“Why?”

“It’s quick. Eventually you lose feeling of your limbs, and maybe that doesn’t hurt that much. Especially when your body is past the point of shivering. As for other ways, it’s already getting harder to breathe and we’re already starving. So, tried and tested.” He sighs. “Besides, you can be outside and have a last clear view of the sky and the moon.”

Does he have the courage to ask her to take him out there, if it comes to the point where he’s not gonna get better?

He sees tears in her eyes, but she smiles. “You’d probably freeze slower than me. You’re one hand short.”

“I’m also hotter.”

A laugh bursts out of her.

And still, the thought that crosses his mind is how, in spite of everything, they can still have this.

It’s the proof of their humanity that has sustained, despite the world itself doing everything in its power to make them disappear. And out of that, there grows a hope that there are people out there somewhere, in better shelters, surviving much better than they are, maybe even growing their own food and developing technology strong enough to one day, maybe years from now, reach their by then empty shelter and finding their journals, filled with happy little moments like this.

Huh. Maybe he is optimistic after all.

[jewish-privilege]

The deadliest attack on Jews in American history appears to have triggered a spike in anti-Semitic searches on Google, exclusive research by CNN shows.

In the hours and days after 11 people were slaughtered inside the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh last October, so many people typed hateful language into Google that it produced the most anti-Semitic searches seen in the last 12 months.

Our analysis did not include benign searches for information about the news but users seeking material for "Jews must die," "kill Jews," and "I hate Jews," among others, all of which were searched at alarmingly higher rates than normal.

An increase in anti-Semitic Google searches was also found after the Passover shooting in Poway, California in April.

And as might be expected, postings on sites like 4chan and 8chan that have largely been co-opted by those with far-right views, also saw plenty of discussion about the attacks, though the content was more surprising as well as disturbing.

CNN commissioned the analysis from advocacy group HOPE Not Hate. They researched a sample of mainstream and fringe responses online for a year from May 2018 to last week to better understand how anti-Semitic views are shared and spread online, especially in the wake of the two synagogue attacks that struck fear into the hearts of American Jews. The findings come days after the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said anti-Semitic incidents in America rose for the third year in a row, hitting near-historic highs. There were 1,879 documented attacks against Jews and Jewish institutions across the country in 2018.

Searching for "kill Jews" on Google yields stories about the Holocaust, but also specifics on how Nazis killed the Jews, and a plethora of stories of people who have made threats against Jews.

A search for the term "Jews must die" brings up stories about the Pittsburgh shooter, who allegedly shouted that before the shooting. But Googling "I hate Jews" takes you to a variety of pages ranging from a Wikipedia entry about self-hating Jews to an article about a Vice co-founder, who left the company more than a decade ago, launching into a rant about Jews in a post titled "10 things I Hate About Jews." Among the articles also are comments from President Donald Trump telling Republican donors that Democrats "hate Jewish people."

As you dive deeper into the search results of Google, the articles become less mainstream and more offensive. More rants and anti-Semitic vitriol from white supremacist sites come up.

Google searches for "kill Jews" were also atypically high, reaching levels not seen since the Pittsburgh aftermath, in the wake of the Passover shooting that killed one woman and injured the rabbi and others, our research shows.

The massive interest in anti-Semitism after so many Jews were killed in cold blood terrifies Carly Pildis in every fiber of her being.

As a Jewish woman living in Washington, DC, who takes her two-year-old daughter to synagogue and writes for the Jewish news and culture Tablet magazine, the increasing violence is alarming and is impacting real life.

"It is a serious life or death threat for American Jews," Pildis says. "I feel a sense of loss, for what it used to be like for Jews here."

The loss turns to outright fury, when she learns more about the searches after the twin attacks on her community."It makes my blood run cold," she says. "It is literally chilling me to the core."

These searches feel like attacks too. That people are openly hunting online for ways to hurt the Jewish community after they have suffered devastating losses.

It is personal, for her, like other Jews who feel under threat. She says each assault on a Jew or vandalism of property with a swastika impacts her. And the massacres, well, they feel like a death in the family.

On the day of the attack on the Pittsburgh synagogue, she laid sick in bed. Then she got a call from a friend apologizing profusely. She didn't know what they were sorry for. Turn on the TV now, she was told. When she did, she saw the deadliest attack on American Jews unfolding. It was the moment she had feared most since watching Neo-Nazis march on the streets of Charlottesville in 2017 chanting "Jews will not replace us!"

Seeing someone try to wipe out Jews in a synagogue gutted her.

Pildis sat on the bathroom floor, writing opinion pieces about what it all meant, trying to come to grips with it."I don't think I slept for days. It was heartbreaking. It was terrifying. It was soul crushing," she explains.

While Pildis grieved the loss of Jewish lives in her home, in the darker, though freely available, corners of the internet, people celebrated.

On sites like 4chan and 8chan, levels of extreme and violent anti-Semitism are often found daily. But that amount of hatred soared even higher, with spikes in the number of anti-Jewish posts on 8chan's /pol/ board observed directly following the Tree of Life attack, our research found.

Many posts lamented "how few" Jews were killed in both Pittsburgh and Poway, reducing human lives to a "score."...

A commenter on 8chan however called the Poway shooter a "f*****g underachiever."

"Can you imagine your son throwing his whole life away for a high score of 1? It's just embarrassing," a post read.

There was also a large amount of general white supremacist posts, such as "KILL THEM ALL."

But most common was a declaration by many posters that it was actually Jewish people who carried out the attacks on other Jews to gain support in society and provide cover for other alleged nefarious activity. It mimics a long, false, conspiratorial theory repeated among anti-Semites, including those who falsely claim the Holocaust specifically was faked.

The concern among experts studying radicalization is how many people can begin by searching anti-Semitic phrases on a mainstream site like Google but end up being drawn into places like 4chan and 8chan and other forums where white supremacists lurk, spewing hate.

And once you engage, hatred seems to grow...

But the impact of the forums and hate sites remains clear. On 8chan, a poster believed to be [the Poway shooter] called alleged Pittsburgh shooter...a direct inspiration. [The Poway shooter] is thought to have made frequent anti-Semitic comments alongside xenophobic content on Gab, another home to far-right extremists.

Joanna Mendelson, a senior researcher for the ADL's Center on Extremism, calls 4chan and 8chan the "lion's den of hate." "White supremacists are weaponizing hate," Mendelson, says. "They are using the internet to broadcast their message to global audiences. They are arming legions of trolls to push their message out across the internet, to the darkest corners and even mainstream platforms," she says.

...Others who have been radicalized online have said they find that within one to three months their views have changed completely and they have fallen prey to the brainwashing. They simply don't believe they've been taken advantage of at the time. That the repeated use of memes, which are meant to act as jokes but sow seeds of hate, is working, those who have escaped the cycle of hate tell CNN.

And the fear is that, if more people may become consumed by hate on 4chan or 8chan, some may take their hate from the forums to the streets.

...Even the seasoned hate-speech researchers commissioned by CNN were shocked at the depravity they found after the two synagogue attacks.

"I say we go all in and start the war, I am ready" one poster writes.

"Hitler did nothing wrong. Soon the entire world will hate the Jews," writes another.

...Another post specifically begins to write the names of the murderers in a numbered list ending with an ellipsis, signifying the desire for more to come.

He or she suggests more attacks until everyday Americans "will accept mosque and synagogue killings as a normal thing."

...Social media giants like Google, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter are being forced to reckon with the power their platforms have in both size and how they amplify hate speech while working to balance free speech.

But more fringe sites, where little if any moderation occurs, seem to present an even larger danger.

And more troubling, perhaps, is the lack of suggestion of what to do about it from the intelligence and law enforcement community.

In a House hearing last week on domestic terrorism, top law enforcement officials couldn't provide an answer as to how to handle websites like 8chan and what legislation could do. CNN has sought comment in the past but their largely unmoderated and unmanaged platforms make it difficult.

That hate spreads online, at the rates CNN found, is unfathomable to Jews like Pildis. She fears the attacks are only beginning, and more will come.

"It makes me unbearably sad, so sad I can barely breathe, to see this rise of hate, extremism and violence," she says. "But they will never take away my hope or my pride in being a Jew - and an American."

Pildis wants those spreading hate to know there is a path out, but if they choose to continue to spew hate against Jews or attack them, the community will never cower.

"Whatever void you are hoping to fill will not be filled with the barrel of a gun," Pildis says. "The Jewish people have survived over 5,000 years of oppression and violence. Our very existence is an act of resistance. We aren't going anywhere."

[mobius-prime]

122. Knuckles the Echidna #23

Dark Alliance (Part Two of Three): Election Night

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Jim Valentino Colors: Frank Gagliardo

After opening our intro page with a quote from Menniker speaking on his promise to be a strong leader for the Dark Legion, noted to take place "after emerging from their imprisonment in another zone" (presumably after Steppenwolf blasted them there in the distant past), we jump right into this evening's news broadcast from ENN!

General Stryker and Constable Remington are both perturbed by this for their own individual reasons, watching on their TVs at home, but Knuckles and the Chaotix, witnessing from their booth in a local diner, are dismissive, believing that politics are of no concern to them. However, the next day, they're all there at the rally, as Remington has called Knuckles to be there to discuss these concerning goings-on. Apparently, Remington had previously had a conversation with High Councilor Pravda, where Pravda had stated he wanted to keep his reelection campaign lowkey. Obviously, a big rally in the park is kind of the opposite of that. At that moment, Pravda pulls up in a swanky high-tech golden limo, very much the kind of technology he was always so opposed to in public before, and Knuckles and Remington watch suspiciously as someone from the car's interior escorts him to the podium, someone whom Remington claims never to have seen before…

Ah, gee, I wonder what platforms this guy is running on? We get into another kind of uncomfortable reference to WWII, as Benedict basically conducts his own shouty little Hitler rally about how technology will save them and the current government is oppressing the echidna people, and then actually, literally ends with a "Hail Dimitri" and a salute that's clearly based on the "Heil Hitler" salute, of which many in the crowd copy him. Honestly, I don't even know why Penders is trying to make them all Nazi-like. The conflict he has going here, the general idea of it, could be a fascinatingly complex one if he didn't shoehorn it into being a WWII allegory. On one side, you've got the repressive government restricting the personal freedoms of its citizens by banning many forms of technology, and on the other hand, you have the technologically-based "freedom fighters" of sorts who take their devotion way too far and become a terrorist cult while still genuinely believing they're here to free the masses. You have hypocrites like Pravda, the man in charge who denounces technology while simultaneously hoarding advanced tech for his own personal entertainment, and you have the Brotherhood, ostensibly serving the anti-tech faction against the Dark Legion, while monitoring everything from their incredibly high-tech base. You have the protagonist of the story, Knuckles, caught up in the middle of it all, with a heritage and duty to the anti-tech side, but a friend and potential love interest hailing from the pro-tech side. There's so many interesting directions this could go, such a perfect opportunity to really delve into the whole gray-and-gray-morality thing, where no one is truly a "good guy" and everyone has secrets and shadowy dealings going on - and yet Kenders throws it all away to turn it into a tired and frankly insensitive allegory for Nazis. In a Sonic the Hedgehog comic, again I can't stress enough. This is ultimately what I find so disappointing about this particular arc, is that it's built on all the conflict and tension and worldbuilding from previous arcs, and it could be so cool, and yet… in the end it's just another "they're like Hitler and Nazis, see? See?" type plot. You had a good thing going, Ken, so why this?

Well, anyway, speaking of the hypocrisy of the Brotherhood - Thunderhawk, Sabre, and Sojourner have been watching the proceedings from their little hideout, and actually start discussing their own use of tech when they're supposed to be protectors against the Dark Legion, when alarms start blaring. They don't even have time to check why.

The Kommissar waltzes in, with the Guardians unconscious on the ground at her feet, and radios Dimitri to inform him - they've taken Haven. Back in the park, Remington decides to confront Benedict about his little rally…

Pravda butts his brainwashed head in to inform Remington that he's ordering him not to arrest anyone here, and insists he come along in his limo so they can discuss the matter "in private." Somehow, this doesn't ring any alarm bells for Remington, who just follows them and gets right in without an issue. Knuckles and the Chaotix watch this suspiciously, shocked that now Dark Legionnaires are just allowed to walk around the city without issue, and together they head off to find answers elsewhere.

That evening, General Stryker is hanging out on the streets of the slums that the dingoes are still relegated to, wondering how he can exploit this situation to his advantage, and for all his violent actions in the past I don't blame him. The place looks filthy and the dingoes have clearly been treated as second-class citizens ever since they lost their city, and he's supposed to be the leader of his people, looking after their welfare. He orders a nearby soldier to gather everyone around so he can address them, but suddenly a spotlight from above shines down onto his location and a voice from the darkness orders them to stay put. Stryker challenges the voice, which comes closer, revealing itself to belong to a Dark Legionnaire named Xenin. Stryker insults Xenin a bit, and Xenin goes ballistic, beating up on him like he just informed him he murdered his entire family with that one insult and shouting the kinds of things only villains shout, because I guess we still weren't sure if these guys were the bad guys yet after that Nazi rally.

Xenin has the other dingoes rounded up to be locked in the sewers, because racism I guess, and the truck carrying the dingo prisoners happens to drive by Knuckles and his buddies, who are discussing the "good old days" before the Dark Legion and Echidnaopolis and everything else made their appearance. Just as they notice the truck, Xenin and his fellows descend upon them too.

They fight back, but Xenin proves to be too strong with his cybernetic enhancements. It's a bit odd, actually, because the Chaotix aren't actually shown to participate in the battle, and in fact don't show up for the rest of the arc, nor the issue after it. I can only assume that the Dark Legion just focused on kidnapping Knuckles and Julie-Su and made off with them before Vector, Mighty and Espio could intervene, leaving them behind on the street, but it's oddly unclear. Ah well. With that, we jump to Haven, where Thunderhawk, Sojourner, and Sabre are secured in some kind of mechanical restraint tubes or something, furious that their sanctum has finally fallen to the enemy. And how did this happen? Why, of course, with the help of Moritori Rex!

Moritori reports in to Dimitri, stating that while the base is secure, they have yet to find and capture Locke or Spectre. Dimitri orders Moritori to carry on with business as usual for now, and as he ends the call, Knuckles and Julie-Su start trash-talking him, revealing that they as well as Stryker have been imprisoned in similar mechanical cylinder… things, only they've been hung from the ceiling upside down for extra humiliation. Dimitri is shocked, shocked I tell you, that they're continuing to be defiant, as if that hasn't characterized Knuckles from their very first interaction, and expresses his anticipation of "some serious screaming…" Dun dun duuunnn!

[miazeklos]

As you guys know, I’m usually pretty chill when it comes to fandom and, like, the Internet in general, because ultimately it’s all for enjoyment and I genuinely don’t care about The Discourse once I’ve blocked all the people that bother me, but today has been... a lot in many aspects, up to and including fandom, so I’m gonna talk. Mainly about Shadowhunters, its fanbase, and Cassandra Clare. If you don’t feel like dealing with this, scroll on. You won’t really be missing out.

Now, on to the Hard To Swallow Pills.

1. The entire fandom isn’t terrible - neither the show or the books one - but stop turning a blind eye to the part of it that’s a fucking nightmare. I’m not saying to talk about them or attract attention to them; don’t do that. It’s what they want. What I’m saying is, it’s ridiculous to talk about how it’s impossible for a Shadowhunters fan to vandalise someone’s car (which there’s actual literal proof of), or to harass people or to drive them off the Internet. It’s ridiculous to talk about how loving and supportive the entire fanbase is.

A lot of people in it are that way, of course. That is true and they’re the ones we should be paying attention to! But denying that there’s a loud, vapid, absolutely vile minority that tries their hardest to ruin people’s lives on the daily is silly. They exist. We all know that. ‘A true fan would never-” But they do. They’ve done it for the past two years and they’re doing it now. No-platform them and move the hell on, but let’s not pretend they don’t exist when it’s been right in front of our eyes the entire time.

2. People who create the fictional worlds you entertain yourself with don’t owe you shit. Like it or not, none of us is entitled to anything. We don’t ‘deserve’ and we’re not ‘owed’ anything. It’s entertainment and it’s given to us for us to enjoy. That’s all. We don’t own it, we don’t control it and we sure as hell can’t tell all the writers and producers and actors and everyone else involved in them that they should be grateful for ~everything we’ve done~ and do more of whatever you want to see.

Cassandra Clare created those characters. The writers of the TV show adapted them in their own ways. None of those people owe you anything and claiming that they do is entitled as all hell, especially when you disrespect the person who created the thing you claim to love so much.

“But she’s got bad history! She didn’t treat her characters well! She-”

I don’t give a fuck! She might have done all that she’s accused of, she might have done none of it and neither of those options have any impact on the person you choose to be! If you criticise her - or Todd Slavkin, or Ed Decter, or any other human on the planet - for what they’ve done, be better than that! Learn from their mistakes! Be the person who would never do the same thing, especially over make believe things! Which leads us to...

3. No fictional character will ever be more important than a living, breathing person. Ever. Yes, even if it’s your favourite character; the one that’s really really important to you. Yes, even if the living, breathing person is someone you dislike or someone you dislike a lot. No, not even that one character and that one person. Not ever.

So when that person you dislike a lot says on social media, ‘hey, I’ve had a terrible month, my dad was diagnosed with cancer and I wish people would stop telling me to kill myself every time I write a two-sentence post’, you fucking stop doing that. You had no right to do it to begin with, but at this point? This is the point where you shut up. It truly is. It doesn’t matter how spiteful you feel or how miffed you are about your favourite form of entertainment being taken away. That’s an actual person with actual feelings and they’ll literally always matter more than the fictional feelings of fictional characters. There’s nothing controversial about this statement and in the same line of thought...

4. Your real actions have real consequences. Here’s a reality check if you needed it - your life is not a TV show. Neither are the lives of the people you communicate (if we can call it that) with on the Internet. These are actual humans. So when someone’s car gets vandalised, when someone ends up doxxed, when someone’s food ends up filled with needles over fan art - that’s all real.

And if you’ve ever sent anyone any sort of abuse over the Internet - even to the extent of ‘I hope you choke’ - then please sit down and think long and hard about people you know offline. Your friends, relatives, coworkers, classmates, neighbours, people you see on the subway. People you can see as someone substantial, not a profile picture on the Internet. People just as real as the ones you treat like shit over fictional characters. Think long and hard whether you want to be responsible over someone actually getting hurt, actually waking up to constant threats and hate sent their way over the most innocuous posts every damn morning, actually losing their life. It’s happened before; we all know it. People have been hurt IRL because of fandom. Is this the kind of responsibility you want? Do you ever want to feel like you’ve contributed to that when you think of the person on the other side of the screen as more than just some annoying might-as-well-be-bot who you argue with over who they ship on a TV show or what kind of headcanon they have, things that ultimately absolutely do not matter and do not affect you in any way once you stop interacting with the person?

If the answer is no, then it’s probably (definitely) time to stop and look around you and realise how ridiculous this actually is and that you can do better. The only logical next step is to try and enjoy whatever you love with the people who also love it and push everything else to the side where it can’t have the power to bother you.

If the answer is yes, then you’re probably (definitely) in dire need of psychological intervention and also to be kept away from the general public, because your mindset is extremely dangerous to literally everyone outside of your carefully picked group of people who care about the same things that you care about in strictly the exact same way. It’s not a mindset that has a place in a fanbase, in the offline world. or in any sort of healthy community. It’s a mindset that needs to disappear because yet again - this is real, actual abuse that you are throwing at people for the sake of fiction that, for what it’s worth, doesn’t even belong to you to begin with.

That is all.

[thedogsled]

Who Tube (Doctor Who YouTube) is hilariously terrible at the moment. You’ve got new fans being gatekept by old fans and then yelling at the old fans and then the old fans yelling back, people subtweeting each other on their channels “Some YouTubers, they know who they are”, people posting vicious rants as soon as episodes end--lots of really really toxic shit on both sides. Like. It’s hilarious--if you enjoy VERY thinly veiled misogyny on one side and blind adoration for progressiveness at the expense of decent writing on the other. If you listen to these people, it’s not very difficult to see where the canon schism between straight white “geek culture” males and anyone with a so labeled by said people SJW motivation come to blows. They both think the other side is just ignorant, and the constant lashing out is just. Wow. It’s really. Wow.

Saltiness ahead.

It frustrates me a lot, because I feel the show has been really hit and miss this season and the warring on YouTube is just another example of how you just can’t discuss this reasonably. It’s not all bad, but it’s certainly been far from all good. Some of it REALLY works, like for example Ryan’s dyspraxia and the decision to explore Yasmin’s character through her grandmother’s story, but some of it doesn’t. I was particularly dismayed today, spoilers, by James I being played through the lens of modern campness by Alan Cumming this week, turning the former monarch into a queer caricature (I know the guy most from his role in Spy Kids, Fegan Floop, which replays ENDLESSLY on british TV). I feel like a lot of the episodes of this season have been simply the characters thrown into chaos, bad guy is revealed to be an alien, then the Doctor gives a shockingly profound, emotional speech that makes you forget how awful some of the other parts were and you go away with ~feels~ and not much else, because all the endings are pulled out of the writer’s ass anyway. Just. That’s how I personally saltily feel about this show this season, like it’s been platforming for a bunch of different writers saying what they want to say about humanity through the Doctor’s mouth. Like she’s ceased to exist beyond her existence as that mouthpiece, and that in some ways the show has too. (just my opinion. anyway.)

But you can’t talk about this stuff. I find myself reading reviews and watching people who like the show and place no accountability on the show beyond being politically bold, and it drives me nuts. It doesn’t matter what form it comes in, so long as it’s pro-feminist, or it exposes people to history they might not have learned in class, or there’s a dude giving birth for 50% of the airtime. If I want to hear or discuss any challenge to those things, I find myself listening to purely negative reviews instead, and noping out when the person suddenly reveals halfway through that they believe that because men aged 18-40 is a big demographic, it only makes sense that they’re the group that are kowtowed to at every opportunity. Like wtf dudes, sorry you can’t hack that other people exist in the world and you aren’t being catered to 24/7 any more. Fuck off. So it’s no wonder the antis feel Doctor Who lovers are all SJWs and the pos!Who people are convinced that the antis are all racist misogynist fucks. (The showrunners do too afaik, and that isn’t helped at all by Chibnall and Jodie both being SO resistant to negativity that neither of them seem to be soliciting fan feedback that isn’t positive.) Is it hard to ask for objectivity, though? For something that comes down the middle? That isn’t racist and misogynistic, but maybe still cares about how the things we’re looking for in terms of representation are being handed to us? How about, at least, not having to listen to some people who are so entitled that they literally think that Jodie Whitaker shouldn’t have shot out any babies so that she can instead devote her entire life to making TV shows? (Seriously, I listened to one girl who thought that, and you could hear her contempt for people who have kids in every syllable.)

I’ve liked episodes of this season. The Kablam! episode was great, I only had minor complaints with the ep that I handwaved away because I felt like there was actually some dramatic tension. I liked episode 2 because it was idk. A fun adventurous romp and the characters all had flaws. I quite liked Rosa because it had the bones of something better, and that showed through in all the scenes where Rosa’s actress (Vinette Robinson, who was also in the Chibnall episode ‘42′, btw what nepotism how many british actors do you think there are?) interacted with the other characters. 

But they weren’t all perfect, at least to me. Maybe I’m a negative nelly, because everyone seems to be tripping over themselves to scream positivity about the show in their reviews, but I, personally, feel like much of it has fallen flat. When they did finally drop - as they’ve been avoiding for much of this season - the ‘If I was a bloke this wouldn’t have been a problem’ thing, it wasn’t even delivered with a great deal of gravity or purpose. Maybe some people think that was a good thing, I don’t know, but looking at the way sexism was handled in Timeless, for example, and hell, Sliders (which was a trashy 90s show about jumping between alternate realities; or Quantum Leap for that matter, which had Sam jump into the lives of women in the past and experience days in their lifetimes), it’s way past the era of TV to deliver that kind of line like it’s inconsequentially drawing attention to something nobody noticed before, you know? Why is the BBC always 100 years behind, despite playing like it’s the most progressive thing ever? Why do we let it, and say “Sure we’ll take it, that’s enough” instead of also insisting they tell GOOD stories, and not wave their hand and say aliens did it at the end of every episode? I get it’s a time traveling series but the aliens show up and then the doctor waves her magic wand and ~science~ and yes she quoted Arthur C Clarke but she can do that and be powerful and tell powerful stories that aren’t completely...halfhearted, and if you don’t have trumped up stupid bad guys you don’t have to have flimsy solutions for beating them at the end.

We SHOULD be seeing ourselves in the media we’re absorbing. I firmly believe that. I also think, though, that we’re entitled to be respected by that media as well, in that the stories we’re seeing that show US should be good stories. They shouldn’t be concentrating on making as many nods as possible to as many corners of culture as possible that it stops caring about the story it’s telling, because whatever politically correct points it scores will ensure people overlook its flaws. It’s disrespectul, and we shouldn’t allow it, because it means we’re nothing but a commodity, an unquestioning storyblind audience that just doesn’t care so long as our representation needs are getting catered to. That means we’ll keep getting more representation, but a lot of it will be shit, because no matter what we’ll throw up our hands and give it ten out of ten and rigorously defend it no matter what caricatures it throws in front of us.

We should demand better stories alongside our representation. Fandom is so powerful now that we’re being written for, because as a whole we aren’t objective. We engage in mass squeeing, we’re GREAT at giving positive feedback and high ratings like it’s our job to do it even if it’s undeserved (and arguably Who NEEDED that positive feedback this year) and best of all anyone who doesn’t agree can be written off as an angry white dude, or racist, or just ignorant. That’s good for ratings and good for clicks, and networks eat that stuff up because it makes them money. But that isn’t respect, and we shouldn’t be selling ourselves out for a bargain basement price.

That’s my last word on it for now. I’ll probably complain again next week, and I know I KNOW this isn’t a popular pov for people, but I’ve made my bed with that. For those of you who loved it, I’m glad for you. I’m mostly disappointed for myself. And I still think camp James I was fucking terrible but I already know people love him, so what do I know?

P.S. my tags are for my flist so they can blacklist properly, not to force my saltiness down the throats of other Who fans. You don’t have to agree with me. I just needed to vent.

[innuendostudios]

The next video in my series on Alt-Right rhetorical strategies. You can help this series come out regularly, as well as support my other work, by backing me on Patreon.

Transcript below the cut.

Say, for the sake of argument, there's this feminist media critic whose work you respect. Being an internet-savvy human in the information age, you sometimes share your opinions of her work on your various social media platforms. And you've noticed, whenever you speak positively of her, many different people come out to yell the same handful of things at you.

It usually starts with, "How can you support that conwoman after she stole thousands of dollars from people?"

And you say, "No, she didn't steal anything, she ran a crowdfunding campaign that people contributed willingly to, and overwhelmingly those people seem satisfied with their donations."

And they say, "Yeah, she asked for a hundred thousand dollars for a shitty little project."

And you say, "No, she got a hundred thousand, because people got excited about her work and gave her more than she asked for, but the original pitch was only 10k. Also, how many times have you given that number to people without looking it up?"

And they say, "Yeah, she asked for 10k and then never finished anything."

And you say, "No, she finished the project earlier this year. Of course it took longer than it was originally pitched, you get ten times what you ask for you’re kind of obligated to make a bigger project, because, if you didn't, that would be running away with ninety grand..."

Now, by this time you’ve noticed your interlocutor's position has changed from "she stole from people" to "she asked too much to begin with" to "she took too long to deliver" as though these are all the same argument. You also notice the pattern of the conversation: he says something short, quippy, and wrong, you give a detailed correction, he says something else short, quippy, wrong, and only tangentially related to his last point, and the cycle repeats itself. This goes on and on.

And it's not, you've noticed, just this discussion; you find this manner of argument often whenever you express left-of-center beliefs. You talk about the election, someone says you vote Democrat because you must have a conservative father you hate; you talk about polyamory, someone says if you have more than one female partner you must be a sexist; or they just say you're faking a non-regional accent. (I don’t understand that one, either.)

The running theme here is all these people who ostensibly want a frank exchange of ideas spend a lot more time making accusations than asking questions. Because, why ask what you believe when they can tell you what you believe and make you correct them? And if you ever don’t correct them, must be because they’re right.

And you're not naive; you see what's going on here. This isn't about conversation, it's about boxes. When you say something cogent that they don't agree with, and they get the sinking feeling that you might start making sense, they need a reason not to listen to you. So they reach for a box to stick you in: dishonest feminism, fake progressivism, daddy-issue liberalism. No one in those boxes is worth listening to, which means, as long as they've got you in one, they're not at risk of having their minds changed. This isn’t even an argument with you, not really; their presenting themselves with arguments for why they don't have to listen to you.

So your first reflex is to defy their expectations. "Actually, my dad was a draft-dodging hippie who told me he loved me every day." "And I never said what genders my partners are but I promise they're all feminists." "As for my accent- actually, I don't know what to do with the accent thing." But the point is, “I refuse to fit in your box.” And if they can't put you in one, if they can't dismiss you outright, they'll have to engage with your argument.

But if you've spent any time arguing with angry dudes online you know what I'm about to say: They don’t. This accusatory, condescending attitude never falters. Because a technique that has permeated anti-progressivism is to Never Play Defense.

Now don't get me wrong, what I said about the Right fitting the Left into simplified boxes as a way of preserving their own egos, I do think that's a thing, at least for many people much of the time. And I think the reassurance it brings is why the technique stays so popular. But that framing is about how individual people are feeling in isolated moments, and leaves out the larger game that's being played. Because there is a long-term strategic value to never playing defense, and it's less to do with arguments than with attitude.

From your perspective, this debate about the feminist is a joke. This guy doesn't know what he's talking about, he comes in hot without confirming any of his assumptions, the whole conversation is you repeatedly schooling an ignorant dipshit. But that's only if you’re the fool who listens to what’s actually being said. Never Play Defense is a strategy that looks past language to posture; the tone, word choice, even the expressions on your faces. If you half-focus your eyes and look not at the words but the flow of the conversation, you can see the dynamic at play:

He says his short, quippy statement, and you give your detailed rebuttal. He then picks a single point from your response and attacks that as the new subject. Now, to an onlooker, the logical brain would register that he's leaving 90% of your argument on the table, and that, by changing positions, he's conceding he lost the first round. But the lizard brain notices that he's always making the accusations, always in the dominant position, that he's always acting and you're always reacting. Regardless of what is said, he displays all the outward signs of winning. So, on a purely emotional level, he leaves the impression of being right.

I have never had an argument look like this that wasn’t in public. This is a technique that means speaking not so much to the other person as to the people watching. Liberals tend to operate as though voters are beings of pure reason, and neglect that rational people still have emotions, and those emotions factor into what they believe. And that long after this argument is over, when people only half-remember what was said, what lingers on is what impressions the speakers made.

Ronald Reagan coined the phrase, "If you're explaining, you're losing." The trick is, if he's always accusing, then you're always explaining.

This technique of winning by looking like you’re winning is not new, and, historically, it's been used by both parties. But modern liberals seem especially susceptible to it because it plays on one of their big weaknesses, which is - and I say this with love - the liberal fantasy of putting someone in their place.

Any time a free speech warrior gets the Bill of Rights quoted to them, when a racist gets "historical accuracy" explained by an actual historian, liberals take screencaps. We put it on Storify. We pass that shit around like theater popcorn. We live for the day an ignorant prick gets dunked on.

I remind you: this was the central conceit of an entire TV show. [West Wing clip.]

But let me ask you: in all these scenarios, who's doing all the explaining?

The reason scenes like this are so satisfying is precisely because they activate the emotions. Everyone wants to be Joseph Welch telling off McCarthy, where an appeal to reason looks like winning. But the Right has learned that, if you never look like you’re losing, you can convince a lot of people that you’re not. And, if you keep your statements short and punchy, people will remember what you said better than they remember the long explanation of why it’s untrue. If done correctly, you might even convince yourself you know what you’re talking about.

Now, again, this is not exclusive to the Right - this is how most teenagers argue regardless of their politics, where it’s less important to be right than it is to be better than someone. But mixed with Control the Conversation - see previous video - the Right has a full-bodied cocktail for manipulating how the Left argues.

But where it gets dangerous is in how the Alt-Right has capitalized on this.

This argument isn’t just about sticking a woman in the Lying Feminism box so she doesn’t have to be listened to, it’s also signaling to anyone watching what box they should stick her in. Even if an onlooker recognizes that she literally did not con anyone out of their money, the idea that how much she asked for and how long she took to deliver are relevant to her credibility is still planted in their heads. It subtly suggests that, the next time they feel threatened by a female media critic, maybe they should look at how much money she makes, how long her work takes to produce; maybe they don’t have to listen to her, because they’ve got this handy box.

So what’s most valuable to the Alt-Right is not who wins or loses any individual argument, it’s the mechanics of the argument itself; it’s the boxes. Over the last several years the far Right has pushed hard on a number of reductive categories: the Cultural Marxism box, the Reverse Racism box, even terms like “beta” and “mangina” are just shorthands for the Failed Masculinity box. The Alt-Right is a box factory, putting huge swaths of Leftist rhetoric, most especially that that would rebut their core positions, into categories where they can be summarily ignored.

These myths have power if and only if they are immediately recognizable to a lot of people. One function of this aggressive posturing is that they want to provoke an argument, to be so pompous that you’re itching to publicly take this asshole down, which gives that asshole access to your followers. It’s about them introducing a myth to your audience and reinforcing that myth for theirs. And that myth gets spread even when you feel like you’re winning.

I can’t tell you the best way to deal with this, but I do know one way, which is to keep control of your own story. When someone comes out the gate with accusations, it’s a big red flag that they are not arguing in good faith. You are not required to argue with them. When someone says something untrue, you can just tell your audience what the truth is without acknowledging the lie or the one repeating it. A detailed explanation lands a lot better when it’s not being contrasted with a sound bite. Decide for yourself how your audience gets acquainted with a popular fiction, and never be too proud to delete a comment.

In this political climate, these debates have real impact on real people’s lives. They’re not, in fact, a game of football. So if someone tries to force you to play defense, you don’t have to play.

[samanthasroberts]

The 10 Most Difficult-to-Defend Online Fandoms

Oh, fandom. So passionate, so partisan—and, too often these days, so prolifically peevish. From Tumblr and Wattpad to more mainstream platforms like Twitter and Instagram, online communities have served as rallying points for stan armies: obsessives who comb over every interview and shred of non-news for information about the object of their adoration. But increasingly, fandoms' emotions have been curdling into a different kind of potion; something petty, entitled, conspiratorial, even abusive. So on the occasion of San Diego Comic-Con, one of the biggest fan events in the world, it's time for some tough love.

First, a note: this is a look at toxic strains that exist within a larger fandom, not an indictment of a given artist or person. Fandom is a pure and precious thing, and no one should feel conflicted about being invested in a pop-culture figure or property. If you express that investment by being a worse person, though—treating appreciation like warfare, demanding dogmatic purity tests, attacking people, or seeing yourself as some kind of a crusader—than it's probably time to take some time and re-assess things. We're sure nothing in the following catalog sounds like anything you've done in the name of fandom, right? Enjoy Comic-Con!

10. Barbz (Nicki Minaj Fandom)

The Barbz are a fiercely loyal sort. Case in point: In April, upon the release of Invasion of Privacy, a writer for British GQ explained how Cardi B had adopted Nicki Minaj’s style in a much more accessible way. “Nicki intimidates; Cardi endears,” she wrote. Minaj disciples responded with an all-out attack. The GQ staffer was flooded with malicious tweets, ranging from the direct (“I will kill u bitch”) to even more direct (“You better to delete that before we get your address and start hunting you and your family down!!”) The following month, the Barbz turned on one of their own when a self-proclaimed fan wondered aloud on Twitter: “You know how dope it would be if Nicki put out mature content? No silly shit, just reflecting on past relationships, being a boss, hardships, etc.” (Minaj took it further and DMed a disgustingly petty reply to the fan). For Barbz, fandom doesn’t allow for dissent—even when it's not dissent but a valid, healthy appraisal. This may come as a surprise, y'all, but love and criticism are not mutually exclusive.

9. Swifties (Taylor Swift Fandom)

Generally speaking, Taylor Swift’s fans aren’t bad—they just really love Swift and tend to be a little over-the-top about it. And most of the time, that’s what fandom is. (Also, this is a pop star who sends holiday presents to them; she’s earned their devotion.) But within that group, the “Bad Blood” singer has a few bad apples. There are those who go after Hayley Kiyoko for daring to point out that she shouldn’t be criticized for singing about women when Swift sings about men all the time. (Swift actually agrees with Kiyoko on that point.) There are Swifties who get bent out of shape when she doesn’t get nominated for enough awards. And then there are the white supremacists—fans Swift seems to have done nothing to court, but pop up anyway. Yeah, the ones who call her an “Aryan goddess”? Those are the ones who give her a bad reputation.

8. Zack Snyder Fans

Look, Zack Snyder's hardcore supporters have it rough. Or, well, they think they do. They’ve hitched their wagon to a star that occasionally blinks out. He’s made some OK movies (Dawn of the Dead, Watchmen) but he’s made even more that have been trashed by critics: Sucker Punch; Man of Steel; Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. That's led to a persecution complex among more than a few of his stans. While this kerfuffle has died down a bit with Snyder's step back from the spotlight—recently, he has shifted focus to make iPhone movies and produce the DC movies rather than direct them—the coming years represent a reckoning. James Wan’s Aquaman and Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman sequel are headed to theaters, and the receptions they get may determine whether critics have complaints with all DC movies, or just the ones with Snyder behind the camera. In the meantime, though, his own personal justice league will be there to defend it.

7. Rick and Morty Fans

Yes, Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland created a funny, smart, challenging (god, those burps) cartoon. Yes, it delivers a bizarro Back to the Future ride through both spacetime and genre tropes. Yes, it's the most STEM-conscious animated show since Futurama. But sweet tapdancing Pickle Rick, you've never seen a TV fandom more noisome than this one. There's the "this show is so smart normies don't get it" self-congratulation that's so over-the-top it became a copypasta meme; there's the propensity to doxx the show's female writers and generally be such venal stains that Harmon despises them; there's the mass freakout after McDonald's ran out of limited-edition Szechuan dipping sauce. (Yes, that's correct.) While Adult Swim recently renewed the show for 70 new episodes, there's going to be quite a lull before anyone sees a new episode—here's hoping the fans grow up a little bit in the meantime.

6. #TeamBreezy (Chris Brown Fandom)

It’s been almost a decade since reports first surfaced of Chris Brown’s violent abuse of then-girlfriend Rihanna. Since then, Rihanna has rocketed to pop superstardom while Brown’s career has strided along, aided by a loyal following that borders on enablers. Despite an earnest-seeming redemption tour, reports of Brown’s violent behavior continue to bubble up: Brown’s ex-girlfriend filed for a restraining order; Brown went on a homophobic Twitter rant; Brown punched a fan in a nightclub; Brown locked a woman in his home, without a cell phone, so she could be sexually assaulted. (Brown’s camp denies that last accusation.) Yet, Team Breezy generally attributes such reports to misinformation and "haters." Fandoms are built on stand-by-your-man loyalty, but at some point it becomes impossible to love the art in good conscience. If the #MeToo movement is any indication, the times have changed since Rihanna’s bloody face headlined gossip sites. Willful ignorance is no longer an acceptable choice.

5. XXXtentacion Fans

On June 18, outside of a Broward County motorcycle dealership, 20-year-old Jahseh Onfroy was fatally gunned down by two assailants. At the time of his death, Onfroy, who rapped under the moniker XXXTentacion, had already amassed a rare kind of fame: He attracted deep love and even deeper hate with a ferocious mania. The allure of Onfroy’s dark matter inspired the type of fandom that spills into violent obsession. A recurring source of vitriol for the rapper, and an easy target for his rabid fanbase, was his ex-girlfriend, Geneva Ayala, who filed multiple charges against the rapper (including aggravated battery of a pregnant woman, domestic battery by strangulation, and witness tampering). When it came to light that Ayala created a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for hospital bills due to damage inflicted by Onfroy, his fans bullied her into exile: forcing her to delete Instagram, hacking her Twitter account, harassing her at work to the point that she was left with no option but to quit, and shutting down her GoFundMe (it was later reopened). Having made a name for himself on Soundcloud, where he often engaged issues of mental health in his music, Onfroy willingly embraced his demons (he once called himself “lil dylan roof” on Twitter, referencing the Charleston shooter who murdered nine parishioners in South Carolina in 2015). But even now, in death, XXX is a reminder that extreme fandom has the power to blind people to the blood on their own hands.

4. Logang (Logan Paul Fandom)

Let’s get this out of the way up front. Many, even most, of Logan Paul’s fans are literal children. And so if you ask us who is really responsible for their bad behavior, we’re going to have to say the fault is predominantly with Paul and, you know, other adults. But the Logang (or the Logangsters, depending on who you ask), like Lil Tay, are inventing a new category of internet villain: the terrifying baby troll. They do all the things adult trolls do—parrot back the sexist and racist things Pauls says, stalk him outside hotel rooms, and harass and troll the “haters” daring to criticize their deeply problematic idol—but they’re kids! So you can’t really fire back at them without being a jerk yourself. Listen, Logang: all Logan wants to do is sell you merch. He’s not really your friend. Can I interest you in a puppy video?

3. Bro Army (Pewdiepie Fandom)

First rule of non-toxic fandoms: Don’t call yourselves "bro," don’t call yourselves an "army," and definitely don’t call yourselves the Bro Army. People might assume you’re a bunch of flame-war-loving trolls who think girls are icky—and where YouTuber PewDiePie’s fans are concerned, everyone would be absolutely right. It’s not just that they’ve stuck with the Swedish gamer/alleged comedian as he peppered his videos with racial slurs, rape jokes, anti-Semitism, and homophobia for nearly a decade (though that’s bad enough). It’s also that they insist that PewDiePie somehow isn’t being hateful at all. Oh, and if you quote their hero back at them, they’ll wallpaper your social media accounts with thoughtful messages about how you suck—for years.

2. The Dark Side of Star Wars Fandom

The most recent eruption has been a hilariously non-ironic campaign to remake The Last Jedi, but that's sadly just the latest in a long line of online grossness from the entitled Sith-heads who are so keen on reclaiming the Star Wars universe . Somehow, Gamergate has come to a galaxy far, far away; hectoring, harassment, even death threats aimed at director Rian Johnson. To be clear, this is a tiny (if vocal) subset of Star Wars fandom, which on the whole is as joyous and inclusive as the universe is finally becoming. But to to quote our own Adam Rogers:

"Everyone has a right to opinions about movies. Everyone has a right, I guess, to throw those opinions in the face of the people who make those movies, though it does seem at minimum impolite. Everyone has the right to ask transnational entertainment companies to make the movies they want, and if those companies don’t respond, to stop giving the companies money. But harassment, threats, jokes about someone’s race or gender? A Jedi would fight someone who did that stuff. The Force binds us all together. Hatred and anger are the ways of the Dark Side; they may bring power, but at a cost. It harms individuals, debases the people who do it, and it breaks the Fellowship. In the end, the cost of that power will be powerlessness."

1. Elon Musk Acolytes

"Always punch up" is a good life motto. You’ll accomplish a lot by speaking truth to power; dissecting the misdeeds of a relative unknown, though, makes you look like a tool. That’s why, despite the plethora of dark and toxic fandoms that flourish on the fringes of the internet, the group that tops our list of nasties is devoted to a person at the internet's very center: Elon Musk. To his fan club, Musk is so much more than a charismatic artist, a talented musician, or, hey, a flawed but successful tech entrepreneur—he’s a messiah, a vestige of an age of retrograde masculinity, when a reasonably successful man could expect his ideas to remain unchecked and his words be read as gospel. And Musk wields his one-man metaphor status (and his 22.3 million follower army) to whack out any dissenting opinions. “Because before he commented on my tweet, it was floundering in relative obscurity,” science writer Erin Biba wrote in a piece for the Daily Beast. But after Musk’s dismissive response, Biba found herself drowning in hate mail and abuse. By letting his mob pick over opinions he does not like, Musk is able to control the narrative, playing up investigative reporting on Tesla’s poor labor practices as a misinformation campaign—or even, in some recent deleted tweets, insinuating that one of the people involved with the Thai cave rescue efforts is a pedophile. It’s bad to be thin-skinned, and terrible to play the underdog, but playing it while you ignite a million-man bullying campaign is reprehensible.

More Great WIRED Stories

Sex, beer, and coding: Inside Facebook’s wild, early days

Sci-fi invades Netflix—as they both invade your home

The worst cybersecurity hacks of 2018 so far

Microsoft’s big bet on a tiny-computer future

How Silicon Valley fuels an informal caste system

Looking for more? Sign up for our daily newsletter and never miss our latest and greatest stories

Related Video

Culture

How To Battle Trolling Ad Hominem Attacks Online

An internet troll's favorite way to argue? Ad hominem, of course! This is your guide to spotting bad arguments on the internet and how to fight them.

Source: http://allofbeer.com/the-10-most-difficult-to-defend-online-fandoms/

from All of Beer https://allofbeer.wordpress.com/2019/03/20/the-10-most-difficult-to-defend-online-fandoms/

[adambstingus]

The 10 Most Difficult-to-Defend Online Fandoms

Oh, fandom. So passionate, so partisan—and, too often these days, so prolifically peevish. From Tumblr and Wattpad to more mainstream platforms like Twitter and Instagram, online communities have served as rallying points for stan armies: obsessives who comb over every interview and shred of non-news for information about the object of their adoration. But increasingly, fandoms’ emotions have been curdling into a different kind of potion; something petty, entitled, conspiratorial, even abusive. So on the occasion of San Diego Comic-Con, one of the biggest fan events in the world, it’s time for some tough love.

First, a note: this is a look at toxic strains that exist within a larger fandom, not an indictment of a given artist or person. Fandom is a pure and precious thing, and no one should feel conflicted about being invested in a pop-culture figure or property. If you express that investment by being a worse person, though—treating appreciation like warfare, demanding dogmatic purity tests, attacking people, or seeing yourself as some kind of a crusader—than it’s probably time to take some time and re-assess things. We’re sure nothing in the following catalog sounds like anything you’ve done in the name of fandom, right? Enjoy Comic-Con!

10. Barbz (Nicki Minaj Fandom)

The Barbz are a fiercely loyal sort. Case in point: In April, upon the release of Invasion of Privacy, a writer for British GQ explained how Cardi B had adopted Nicki Minaj’s style in a much more accessible way. “Nicki intimidates; Cardi endears,” she wrote. Minaj disciples responded with an all-out attack. The GQ staffer was flooded with malicious tweets, ranging from the direct (“I will kill u bitch”) to even more direct (“You better to delete that before we get your address and start hunting you and your family down!!”) The following month, the Barbz turned on one of their own when a self-proclaimed fan wondered aloud on Twitter: “You know how dope it would be if Nicki put out mature content? No silly shit, just reflecting on past relationships, being a boss, hardships, etc.” (Minaj took it further and DMed a disgustingly petty reply to the fan). For Barbz, fandom doesn’t allow for dissent—even when it’s not dissent but a valid, healthy appraisal. This may come as a surprise, y'all, but love and criticism are not mutually exclusive.

9. Swifties (Taylor Swift Fandom)

Generally speaking, Taylor Swift’s fans aren’t bad—they just really love Swift and tend to be a little over-the-top about it. And most of the time, that’s what fandom is. (Also, this is a pop star who sends holiday presents to them; she’s earned their devotion.) But within that group, the “Bad Blood” singer has a few bad apples. There are those who go after Hayley Kiyoko for daring to point out that she shouldn’t be criticized for singing about women when Swift sings about men all the time. (Swift actually agrees with Kiyoko on that point.) There are Swifties who get bent out of shape when she doesn’t get nominated for enough awards. And then there are the white supremacists—fans Swift seems to have done nothing to court, but pop up anyway. Yeah, the ones who call her an “Aryan goddess”? Those are the ones who give her a bad reputation.

8. Zack Snyder Fans

Look, Zack Snyder’s hardcore supporters have it rough. Or, well, they think they do. They’ve hitched their wagon to a star that occasionally blinks out. He’s made some OK movies (Dawn of the Dead, Watchmen) but he’s made even more that have been trashed by critics: Sucker Punch; Man of Steel; Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. That’s led to a persecution complex among more than a few of his stans. While this kerfuffle has died down a bit with Snyder’s step back from the spotlight—recently, he has shifted focus to make iPhone movies and produce the DC movies rather than direct them—the coming years represent a reckoning. James Wan’s Aquaman and Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman sequel are headed to theaters, and the receptions they get may determine whether critics have complaints with all DC movies, or just the ones with Snyder behind the camera. In the meantime, though, his own personal justice league will be there to defend it.

7. Rick and Morty Fans

Yes, Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland created a funny, smart, challenging (god, those burps) cartoon. Yes, it delivers a bizarro Back to the Future ride through both spacetime and genre tropes. Yes, it’s the most STEM-conscious animated show since Futurama. But sweet tapdancing Pickle Rick, you’ve never seen a TV fandom more noisome than this one. There’s the “this show is so smart normies don’t get it” self-congratulation that’s so over-the-top it became a copypasta meme; there’s the propensity to doxx the show’s female writers and generally be such venal stains that Harmon despises them; there’s the mass freakout after McDonald’s ran out of limited-edition Szechuan dipping sauce. (Yes, that’s correct.) While Adult Swim recently renewed the show for 70 new episodes, there’s going to be quite a lull before anyone sees a new episode—here’s hoping the fans grow up a little bit in the meantime.

6. #TeamBreezy (Chris Brown Fandom)

It’s been almost a decade since reports first surfaced of Chris Brown’s violent abuse of then-girlfriend Rihanna. Since then, Rihanna has rocketed to pop superstardom while Brown’s career has strided along, aided by a loyal following that borders on enablers. Despite an earnest-seeming redemption tour, reports of Brown’s violent behavior continue to bubble up: Brown’s ex-girlfriend filed for a restraining order; Brown went on a homophobic Twitter rant; Brown punched a fan in a nightclub; Brown locked a woman in his home, without a cell phone, so she could be sexually assaulted. (Brown’s camp denies that last accusation.) Yet, Team Breezy generally attributes such reports to misinformation and “haters.” Fandoms are built on stand-by-your-man loyalty, but at some point it becomes impossible to love the art in good conscience. If the #MeToo movement is any indication, the times have changed since Rihanna’s bloody face headlined gossip sites. Willful ignorance is no longer an acceptable choice.

5. XXXtentacion Fans

On June 18, outside of a Broward County motorcycle dealership, 20-year-old Jahseh Onfroy was fatally gunned down by two assailants. At the time of his death, Onfroy, who rapped under the moniker XXXTentacion, had already amassed a rare kind of fame: He attracted deep love and even deeper hate with a ferocious mania. The allure of Onfroy’s dark matter inspired the type of fandom that spills into violent obsession. A recurring source of vitriol for the rapper, and an easy target for his rabid fanbase, was his ex-girlfriend, Geneva Ayala, who filed multiple charges against the rapper (including aggravated battery of a pregnant woman, domestic battery by strangulation, and witness tampering). When it came to light that Ayala created a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for hospital bills due to damage inflicted by Onfroy, his fans bullied her into exile: forcing her to delete Instagram, hacking her Twitter account, harassing her at work to the point that she was left with no option but to quit, and shutting down her GoFundMe (it was later reopened). Having made a name for himself on Soundcloud, where he often engaged issues of mental health in his music, Onfroy willingly embraced his demons (he once called himself “lil dylan roof” on Twitter, referencing the Charleston shooter who murdered nine parishioners in South Carolina in 2015). But even now, in death, XXX is a reminder that extreme fandom has the power to blind people to the blood on their own hands.

4. Logang (Logan Paul Fandom)

Let’s get this out of the way up front. Many, even most, of Logan Paul’s fans are literal children. And so if you ask us who is really responsible for their bad behavior, we’re going to have to say the fault is predominantly with Paul and, you know, other adults. But the Logang (or the Logangsters, depending on who you ask), like Lil Tay, are inventing a new category of internet villain: the terrifying baby troll. They do all the things adult trolls do—parrot back the sexist and racist things Pauls says, stalk him outside hotel rooms, and harass and troll the “haters” daring to criticize their deeply problematic idol—but they’re kids! So you can’t really fire back at them without being a jerk yourself. Listen, Logang: all Logan wants to do is sell you merch. He’s not really your friend. Can I interest you in a puppy video?

3. Bro Army (Pewdiepie Fandom)

First rule of non-toxic fandoms: Don’t call yourselves “bro,” don’t call yourselves an “army,” and definitely don’t call yourselves the Bro Army. People might assume you’re a bunch of flame-war-loving trolls who think girls are icky—and where YouTuber PewDiePie’s fans are concerned, everyone would be absolutely right. It’s not just that they’ve stuck with the Swedish gamer/alleged comedian as he peppered his videos with racial slurs, rape jokes, anti-Semitism, and homophobia for nearly a decade (though that’s bad enough). It’s also that they insist that PewDiePie somehow isn’t being hateful at all. Oh, and if you quote their hero back at them, they’ll wallpaper your social media accounts with thoughtful messages about how you suck—for years.

2. The Dark Side of Star Wars Fandom

The most recent eruption has been a hilariously non-ironic campaign to remake The Last Jedi, but that’s sadly just the latest in a long line of online grossness from the entitled Sith-heads who are so keen on reclaiming the Star Wars universe . Somehow, Gamergate has come to a galaxy far, far away; hectoring, harassment, even death threats aimed at director Rian Johnson. To be clear, this is a tiny (if vocal) subset of Star Wars fandom, which on the whole is as joyous and inclusive as the universe is finally becoming. But to to quote our own Adam Rogers:

“Everyone has a right to opinions about movies. Everyone has a right, I guess, to throw those opinions in the face of the people who make those movies, though it does seem at minimum impolite. Everyone has the right to ask transnational entertainment companies to make the movies they want, and if those companies don’t respond, to stop giving the companies money. But harassment, threats, jokes about someone’s race or gender? A Jedi would fight someone who did that stuff. The Force binds us all together. Hatred and anger are the ways of the Dark Side; they may bring power, but at a cost. It harms individuals, debases the people who do it, and it breaks the Fellowship. In the end, the cost of that power will be powerlessness.”

1. Elon Musk Acolytes

“Always punch up” is a good life motto. You’ll accomplish a lot by speaking truth to power; dissecting the misdeeds of a relative unknown, though, makes you look like a tool. That’s why, despite the plethora of dark and toxic fandoms that flourish on the fringes of the internet, the group that tops our list of nasties is devoted to a person at the internet’s very center: Elon Musk. To his fan club, Musk is so much more than a charismatic artist, a talented musician, or, hey, a flawed but successful tech entrepreneur—he’s a messiah, a vestige of an age of retrograde masculinity, when a reasonably successful man could expect his ideas to remain unchecked and his words be read as gospel. And Musk wields his one-man metaphor status (and his 22.3 million follower army) to whack out any dissenting opinions. “Because before he commented on my tweet, it was floundering in relative obscurity,” science writer Erin Biba wrote in a piece for the Daily Beast. But after Musk’s dismissive response, Biba found herself drowning in hate mail and abuse. By letting his mob pick over opinions he does not like, Musk is able to control the narrative, playing up investigative reporting on Tesla’s poor labor practices as a misinformation campaign—or even, in some recent deleted tweets, insinuating that one of the people involved with the Thai cave rescue efforts is a pedophile. It’s bad to be thin-skinned, and terrible to play the underdog, but playing it while you ignite a million-man bullying campaign is reprehensible.

More Great WIRED Stories

Sex, beer, and coding: Inside Facebook’s wild, early days

Sci-fi invades Netflix—as they both invade your home

The worst cybersecurity hacks of 2018 so far

Microsoft’s big bet on a tiny-computer future

How Silicon Valley fuels an informal caste system

Looking for more? Sign up for our daily newsletter and never miss our latest and greatest stories

Related Video

Culture

How To Battle Trolling Ad Hominem Attacks Online

An internet troll’s favorite way to argue? Ad hominem, of course! This is your guide to spotting bad arguments on the internet and how to fight them.

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/the-10-most-difficult-to-defend-online-fandoms/ from All of Beer https://allofbeercom.tumblr.com/post/183577966647

[allofbeercom]

The 10 Most Difficult-to-Defend Online Fandoms

Oh, fandom. So passionate, so partisan—and, too often these days, so prolifically peevish. From Tumblr and Wattpad to more mainstream platforms like Twitter and Instagram, online communities have served as rallying points for stan armies: obsessives who comb over every interview and shred of non-news for information about the object of their adoration. But increasingly, fandoms' emotions have been curdling into a different kind of potion; something petty, entitled, conspiratorial, even abusive. So on the occasion of San Diego Comic-Con, one of the biggest fan events in the world, it's time for some tough love.

First, a note: this is a look at toxic strains that exist within a larger fandom, not an indictment of a given artist or person. Fandom is a pure and precious thing, and no one should feel conflicted about being invested in a pop-culture figure or property. If you express that investment by being a worse person, though—treating appreciation like warfare, demanding dogmatic purity tests, attacking people, or seeing yourself as some kind of a crusader—than it's probably time to take some time and re-assess things. We're sure nothing in the following catalog sounds like anything you've done in the name of fandom, right? Enjoy Comic-Con!

10. Barbz (Nicki Minaj Fandom)

The Barbz are a fiercely loyal sort. Case in point: In April, upon the release of Invasion of Privacy, a writer for British GQ explained how Cardi B had adopted Nicki Minaj’s style in a much more accessible way. “Nicki intimidates; Cardi endears,” she wrote. Minaj disciples responded with an all-out attack. The GQ staffer was flooded with malicious tweets, ranging from the direct (“I will kill u bitch”) to even more direct (“You better to delete that before we get your address and start hunting you and your family down!!”) The following month, the Barbz turned on one of their own when a self-proclaimed fan wondered aloud on Twitter: “You know how dope it would be if Nicki put out mature content? No silly shit, just reflecting on past relationships, being a boss, hardships, etc.” (Minaj took it further and DMed a disgustingly petty reply to the fan). For Barbz, fandom doesn’t allow for dissent—even when it's not dissent but a valid, healthy appraisal. This may come as a surprise, y'all, but love and criticism are not mutually exclusive.

9. Swifties (Taylor Swift Fandom)

Generally speaking, Taylor Swift’s fans aren’t bad—they just really love Swift and tend to be a little over-the-top about it. And most of the time, that’s what fandom is. (Also, this is a pop star who sends holiday presents to them; she’s earned their devotion.) But within that group, the “Bad Blood” singer has a few bad apples. There are those who go after Hayley Kiyoko for daring to point out that she shouldn’t be criticized for singing about women when Swift sings about men all the time. (Swift actually agrees with Kiyoko on that point.) There are Swifties who get bent out of shape when she doesn’t get nominated for enough awards. And then there are the white supremacists—fans Swift seems to have done nothing to court, but pop up anyway. Yeah, the ones who call her an “Aryan goddess”? Those are the ones who give her a bad reputation.

8. Zack Snyder Fans

Look, Zack Snyder's hardcore supporters have it rough. Or, well, they think they do. They’ve hitched their wagon to a star that occasionally blinks out. He’s made some OK movies (Dawn of the Dead, Watchmen) but he’s made even more that have been trashed by critics: Sucker Punch; Man of Steel; Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. That's led to a persecution complex among more than a few of his stans. While this kerfuffle has died down a bit with Snyder's step back from the spotlight—recently, he has shifted focus to make iPhone movies and produce the DC movies rather than direct them—the coming years represent a reckoning. James Wan’s Aquaman and Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman sequel are headed to theaters, and the receptions they get may determine whether critics have complaints with all DC movies, or just the ones with Snyder behind the camera. In the meantime, though, his own personal justice league will be there to defend it.

7. Rick and Morty Fans

Yes, Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland created a funny, smart, challenging (god, those burps) cartoon. Yes, it delivers a bizarro Back to the Future ride through both spacetime and genre tropes. Yes, it's the most STEM-conscious animated show since Futurama. But sweet tapdancing Pickle Rick, you've never seen a TV fandom more noisome than this one. There's the "this show is so smart normies don't get it" self-congratulation that's so over-the-top it became a copypasta meme; there's the propensity to doxx the show's female writers and generally be such venal stains that Harmon despises them; there's the mass freakout after McDonald's ran out of limited-edition Szechuan dipping sauce. (Yes, that's correct.) While Adult Swim recently renewed the show for 70 new episodes, there's going to be quite a lull before anyone sees a new episode—here's hoping the fans grow up a little bit in the meantime.

6. #TeamBreezy (Chris Brown Fandom)

It’s been almost a decade since reports first surfaced of Chris Brown’s violent abuse of then-girlfriend Rihanna. Since then, Rihanna has rocketed to pop superstardom while Brown’s career has strided along, aided by a loyal following that borders on enablers. Despite an earnest-seeming redemption tour, reports of Brown’s violent behavior continue to bubble up: Brown’s ex-girlfriend filed for a restraining order; Brown went on a homophobic Twitter rant; Brown punched a fan in a nightclub; Brown locked a woman in his home, without a cell phone, so she could be sexually assaulted. (Brown’s camp denies that last accusation.) Yet, Team Breezy generally attributes such reports to misinformation and "haters." Fandoms are built on stand-by-your-man loyalty, but at some point it becomes impossible to love the art in good conscience. If the #MeToo movement is any indication, the times have changed since Rihanna’s bloody face headlined gossip sites. Willful ignorance is no longer an acceptable choice.

5. XXXtentacion Fans

On June 18, outside of a Broward County motorcycle dealership, 20-year-old Jahseh Onfroy was fatally gunned down by two assailants. At the time of his death, Onfroy, who rapped under the moniker XXXTentacion, had already amassed a rare kind of fame: He attracted deep love and even deeper hate with a ferocious mania. The allure of Onfroy’s dark matter inspired the type of fandom that spills into violent obsession. A recurring source of vitriol for the rapper, and an easy target for his rabid fanbase, was his ex-girlfriend, Geneva Ayala, who filed multiple charges against the rapper (including aggravated battery of a pregnant woman, domestic battery by strangulation, and witness tampering). When it came to light that Ayala created a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for hospital bills due to damage inflicted by Onfroy, his fans bullied her into exile: forcing her to delete Instagram, hacking her Twitter account, harassing her at work to the point that she was left with no option but to quit, and shutting down her GoFundMe (it was later reopened). Having made a name for himself on Soundcloud, where he often engaged issues of mental health in his music, Onfroy willingly embraced his demons (he once called himself “lil dylan roof” on Twitter, referencing the Charleston shooter who murdered nine parishioners in South Carolina in 2015). But even now, in death, XXX is a reminder that extreme fandom has the power to blind people to the blood on their own hands.

4. Logang (Logan Paul Fandom)

Let’s get this out of the way up front. Many, even most, of Logan Paul’s fans are literal children. And so if you ask us who is really responsible for their bad behavior, we’re going to have to say the fault is predominantly with Paul and, you know, other adults. But the Logang (or the Logangsters, depending on who you ask), like Lil Tay, are inventing a new category of internet villain: the terrifying baby troll. They do all the things adult trolls do—parrot back the sexist and racist things Pauls says, stalk him outside hotel rooms, and harass and troll the “haters” daring to criticize their deeply problematic idol—but they’re kids! So you can’t really fire back at them without being a jerk yourself. Listen, Logang: all Logan wants to do is sell you merch. He’s not really your friend. Can I interest you in a puppy video?

3. Bro Army (Pewdiepie Fandom)

First rule of non-toxic fandoms: Don’t call yourselves "bro," don’t call yourselves an "army," and definitely don’t call yourselves the Bro Army. People might assume you’re a bunch of flame-war-loving trolls who think girls are icky—and where YouTuber PewDiePie’s fans are concerned, everyone would be absolutely right. It’s not just that they’ve stuck with the Swedish gamer/alleged comedian as he peppered his videos with racial slurs, rape jokes, anti-Semitism, and homophobia for nearly a decade (though that’s bad enough). It’s also that they insist that PewDiePie somehow isn’t being hateful at all. Oh, and if you quote their hero back at them, they’ll wallpaper your social media accounts with thoughtful messages about how you suck—for years.

2. The Dark Side of Star Wars Fandom

The most recent eruption has been a hilariously non-ironic campaign to remake The Last Jedi, but that's sadly just the latest in a long line of online grossness from the entitled Sith-heads who are so keen on reclaiming the Star Wars universe . Somehow, Gamergate has come to a galaxy far, far away; hectoring, harassment, even death threats aimed at director Rian Johnson. To be clear, this is a tiny (if vocal) subset of Star Wars fandom, which on the whole is as joyous and inclusive as the universe is finally becoming. But to to quote our own Adam Rogers:

"Everyone has a right to opinions about movies. Everyone has a right, I guess, to throw those opinions in the face of the people who make those movies, though it does seem at minimum impolite. Everyone has the right to ask transnational entertainment companies to make the movies they want, and if those companies don’t respond, to stop giving the companies money. But harassment, threats, jokes about someone’s race or gender? A Jedi would fight someone who did that stuff. The Force binds us all together. Hatred and anger are the ways of the Dark Side; they may bring power, but at a cost. It harms individuals, debases the people who do it, and it breaks the Fellowship. In the end, the cost of that power will be powerlessness."

1. Elon Musk Acolytes

"Always punch up" is a good life motto. You’ll accomplish a lot by speaking truth to power; dissecting the misdeeds of a relative unknown, though, makes you look like a tool. That’s why, despite the plethora of dark and toxic fandoms that flourish on the fringes of the internet, the group that tops our list of nasties is devoted to a person at the internet's very center: Elon Musk. To his fan club, Musk is so much more than a charismatic artist, a talented musician, or, hey, a flawed but successful tech entrepreneur—he’s a messiah, a vestige of an age of retrograde masculinity, when a reasonably successful man could expect his ideas to remain unchecked and his words be read as gospel. And Musk wields his one-man metaphor status (and his 22.3 million follower army) to whack out any dissenting opinions. “Because before he commented on my tweet, it was floundering in relative obscurity,” science writer Erin Biba wrote in a piece for the Daily Beast. But after Musk’s dismissive response, Biba found herself drowning in hate mail and abuse. By letting his mob pick over opinions he does not like, Musk is able to control the narrative, playing up investigative reporting on Tesla’s poor labor practices as a misinformation campaign—or even, in some recent deleted tweets, insinuating that one of the people involved with the Thai cave rescue efforts is a pedophile. It’s bad to be thin-skinned, and terrible to play the underdog, but playing it while you ignite a million-man bullying campaign is reprehensible.

More Great WIRED Stories

Sex, beer, and coding: Inside Facebook’s wild, early days

Sci-fi invades Netflix—as they both invade your home

The worst cybersecurity hacks of 2018 so far

Microsoft’s big bet on a tiny-computer future

How Silicon Valley fuels an informal caste system

Looking for more? Sign up for our daily newsletter and never miss our latest and greatest stories

Related Video

Culture

How To Battle Trolling Ad Hominem Attacks Online

An internet troll's favorite way to argue? Ad hominem, of course! This is your guide to spotting bad arguments on the internet and how to fight them.

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/the-10-most-difficult-to-defend-online-fandoms/

[theconservativebrief]

Kanye West and President Donald Trump sat down together on Thursday for a conversation in the Oval Office. They were reportedly expected to discuss prison reform, gang violence, crime in Chicago, and American manufacturing, but instead Kanye delivered a lengthy speech on mental health and job growth, while Trump periodically interjected, “That was quite something!” It was the unlikely pair’s second official meeting since Trump was elected president, with their first meeting taking place at New York’s Trump Tower in December of 2016.

But Trump and Kanye’s relationship stretches back long before the election. Even before Trump entered politics and Kanye veered to the right in his rhetoric, the two men have been drawn to each other. Kanye rapped repeatedly about Trump; Trump name-dropped Kanye in interviews. For years, they’ve seemed to understand each other as fellow practitioners of fame — not just fame as a tool for increased wealth, but fame as an ideology, an end in and of itself.

And when Trump and Kanye talk about fame, they seem to instinctively understand that each of them can use the other to shore up a vulnerability in their own personas. Before the Trump presidency, Trump offered Kanye access to the kind of hard power that is historically forbidden to black men, and Kanye offered Trump access to the cultural capital that he has never quite managed to acquire on his own.

But since Trump took office, the balance has shifted. Trump can still offer Kanye access to power, even more than ever before — but what Kanye offers Trump has changed. Kanye no longer gives Trump the flattering light of beloved and famous attention. Now he gives him grievance capital.

Kanye referenced Trump three times in his lyrics before the 2016 election, primarily as a shorthand for the idea of wealth, luxury, and the ability to fire people. The first reference came in 2005 when Kanye freestyled on the YouTube channel Tim Westwood TV (“I ain’t no clown like Ronald / Uh, more like Donald / Trump, with the way I get it crunk”), then in 2009’s “Flashing Lights (Remix)” (“You fired mothafucka Donald Trump ni**a”), and then in 2010’s “So Appalled” (“Balding Donald Trump taking dollars from y’all / Baby, you’re fired, your girlfriend hired”). He also featured a naked depiction of Trump in the bed tableau that appears in the video for his 2016 song “Famous.”

All of that added up to four Trump references in seven years. (For comparison’s sake, that’s more than Kanye has referenced, say, Givenchy, but less than the 12 times he’s mentioned Gucci in his lyrics.) In Kanye’s songs, Trump is a symbol of the kind of wealth and power that American culture generally withholds from black men: He has the kind of decadent wealth that you can use to party with, but he can also control other people’s employment, hiring and firing them at will.

Trump, meanwhile, has long taken every opportunity to work himself into the Kanye West narrative.

In 2009, Trump inserted himself into the Kanye/Taylor Swift scandal that unfolded at the MTV Video Music Awards, calling for a boycott of Kanye and declaring (hilariously, given the source), “[Kanye] couldn’t care less about Beyoncé. It was grandstanding to get attention.”

But if they were enemies then, Trump had upgraded their relationship status to “cordial acquaintances” by 2014, when he told Mario Lopez there was no reason he’d be invited to Kanye’s wedding to Kim Kardashian but that he thought both Kanye and Kim were very nice people and that he wished them both the best of luck.

In 2015, the narrative changed again, and Trump began to talk about Kanye as a close and longtime friend of his — making sure to tell everyone that the feeling was mutual.

When Kanye teased a 2020 presidential run at the VMAs in 2015, Trump credited himself as the inspiration for Kanye’s decision. “I was actually watching, I saw him [announce his candidacy on the VMAs], and I said, ‘That’s very interesting. I wonder who gave him that idea?'” Trump told Rolling Stone, adding, “He’s actually a different kind of person than people think. He’s a nice guy. I hope to run against him someday.”

Later, Trump reconsidered the idea of a campaign against Kanye, saying, “I’ll never say bad about Kanye West. I love him. But maybe in a few years I’ll have to run against him and take that back.” Still, Trump maintained, he would hate to say anything bad about Kanye “because he says such nice things about me.” For Trump, Kanye has become a useful shorthand for the idea that he still has wealthy, famous, well-liked friends in a time when much of liberal Hollywood has denounced him.

Kanye and Trump each serve a need for the other, filling a void in each other’s public personas. Kanye uses Trump in his lyrics to signal the idea that he has access to wealth and power. Trump mentions Kanye in his interviews to signal the idea that famous people like him.

Before the 2016 election, it wasn’t clear that Kanye was actually saying nice things about Trump. Kanye spent most of 2015 appearing to quietly support Hillary Clinton, or at least supporting his wife’s support of Hillary Clinton.

He donated thousands to the Democratic National Committee and to Clinton’s campaign. He didn’t speak publicly about the election prior to November, but few people believed that the guy who famously said “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” on national television would go on to support Trump, who was endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan. Trump’s claims of friendship with Kanye, it seemed clear, were the same kind of baseless name-dropping Trump had leaned on all through election season; there was no evidence they were based in fact.

But then the election happened, and Kanye revealed during a concert that he greatly admires Trump. “If I would’ve voted, I would’ve voted on Trump,” he told a booing crowd that November.

He clarified that he doesn’t agree with Trump on everything. “That don’t mean that I don’t think that black lives matter,” he said. “That don’t mean I don’t think that I’m a believer in women’s rights, that … I don’t believe in gay marriage.”

But he nonetheless admired Trump’s style. “There’s nonpolitical methods to speaking that I like, that I feel were very futuristic,” he said. “And that style, and that method of communication, has proven that it can beat a politically correct way of communication.”

It’s a style that Kanye shares. For a long time, Kanye was considered a master of getting people to take him “seriously, but not literally,” the way many of Trump’s supporters seem to think about him. For proof, let’s turn to Kanye’s pro-Trump commentary at that November 2016 concert, which prompted the LA Times to wonder if the whole thing “wasn’t just stream-of-consciousness trolling his fans from atop a floating light platform.” Or his Twitter feed, on which he tends to free-associate about how he can’t be managed and how he and Trump share “dragon energy,” and has prompted a series of earnest debates as to whether it can legitimately be called performance art.

Trump and Kanye both built their careers on the power of saying something outrageous and then watching everyone else scramble to figure out if they truly mean what they say. And as Kanye pointed out at that November 2016 concert, that style is a powerful means of communication: It can help forge a media empire. It can win elections.

At Saturday Night Live in September, Kanye took that argument a step farther. “I’ma break it down to you right now,” he said: “If someone inspires me and I connect with them, I don’t have to believe in all they policies.” The style is what matters here; the content is secondary. You need to be provocative, and what you’re provocative about doesn’t matter.

Of course, the key difference between Kanye and Trump is that Kanye is a musician, and when he’s provocative, he’s being artistic, or at worst eccentric. And when people get tired of his empty provocations — as they by and large seem to have done by now — they can ignore him. Trump is America’s president. When he’s provocative, there are major consequences.

Regardless of how Trump and Kanye actually feel about one another, their latest meeting is a continuation of their mutually beneficial relationship.

But when Kanye visits Trump now, he’s no longer arriving as a beloved rapper at the top of his career. Now, he’s the butt of SNL jokes and the recipient of earnest texts from John Legend begging him to reconsider his stance. He’s the guy who showed up at TMZ and said things so over-the-top outrageous that the staffers of TMZ looked like the reasonable ones.

All of this means that Kanye can no longer offer Trump the flattering belief that the famous and beloved institutions of Hollywood adore him. Instead, he can offer him something almost better: He can offer Trump the chance to be aggrieved and defensive about someone who he believes to be on “his team,” and who is being attacked by the liberal elitists of Hollywood for daring to be there.

Like many, I don’t watch Saturday Night Live (even though I past hosted it) – no longer funny, no talent or charm. It is just a political ad for the Dems. Word is that Kanye West, who put on a MAGA hat after the show (despite being told “no”), was great. He’s leading the charge!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2018

So at Thursday’s meeting, Kanye got to be photographed with the president of the United States, the most powerful man in the world, and hence remind everyone that he has connections with legitimate hard power, and that he is therefore a winner. In his comments, Kanye lauded Trump for the masculine MAGA hat that makes him feel “like Superman,” as opposed to the effeminate Hillary and her “I’m with her” slogan. What Kanye seemed to want out of the meeting was to affirm his connection with Trump’s masculine-coding power, and he got it.

And Trump got to be photographed with someone famous who has stayed on his team despite outrage from the left, and hence remind everyone that he, Trump, is someone with a team and the means to defend it, and that he is therefore a winner.

What they were talking about did not matter, and in fact they discussed almost no political matters of substance. What mattered for their purposes is that they were both provocative.

And Trump and Kanye can continue to reinforce each other’s beliefs in their great success, their winningness, on and on. But whether they believe in them seriously or literally remains an open question.

Update: This article was originally published after Trump and Kanye’s December 2016 meeting. It has been updated to discuss their October 2018 meeting.

Original Source -> Kanye and Trump’s mutual fascination with each other, explained

via The Conservative Brief

[martechadvisor-blog]

5 Costly Errors to Avoid in Influencer Marketing

“Influence is the new power – if you’ve influence, you can create a brand.”

Michelle Phan (Businesswomen & Influencer)

Over the last few years, marketers, both B2B and B2C, have been keen on roping in influencers to their social bandwagon. Influencer campaigns have since caught the imagination and would continue to surge as brands look to stay ahead of the game. When you log in to your social accounts, you come across a host of influencers from literally every sphere of life. Chefs, actors, motivational speakers, and specialists from all walks of martech ranging from content to CRM or ABM. You’ll find them all under the social roof subtly promoting various services and products.

Influencer marketing can, of course, go horribly wrong too.

But before we dig into those costly mistakes, let’s have a quick look at why businesses are taking influencer marketing seriously.

92% of people prefer recommendations from individuals than brands (Nielsen)

74% of consumers rely on social media to make purchase decisions (Sprout Social)

81% of marketers who implemented influencer campaigns found it effective (eMarketer)

51% marketers agree that influencer marketing provides better customers (Tomoson)

  I believe that more and more brands will look for true brand advocates to promote their products. It will be less about awareness and truly about the endorsement of their products. As businesses want to connect with shoppers at a more personal level, the authenticity that WOM marketing can bring will break through. It will be important for businesses to separate influencer marketing strategy from standard digital media strategy as it's a completely different type of buy. If a brand is looking for brand message amplification, they should buy programmatic media. If they are looking to connect their brand with their shoppers via recommendation-based tactics, they should explore influencer marketing.

- Leah Logan, VP, Media Products and Community Growth, Collective Bias

What makes influencer marketing stand out is that it has the ability to enhance brand reputation, awareness, recall, traffic generation, lead conversions, engagement, and loyalty. In case you’ve struggled to get the desired results from your influencer marketing campaigns, don’t go the ‘once bitten, twice shy’ way.

Here’re 5 basic influencer marketing pitfalls to avoid if you want to be second time lucky!

Inadequate campaign detailing

They did it, so shall we! Rookie mistake #1. Just because you’ve got a prominent personality to influence customers doesn’t mean it’s all in place.**Influencer marketing is much more than merely collaborating with someone who has a massive social following**. There’s a lot more to it.

Envision precisely how you want to go about your campaign. Here, being realistic and measurable in your approach is the start point. Make a list of your objectives and share with the influencer(s) to get alignment. With a detailed plan of action, you get the essence right – intention and steerage. The idea is that you and the influencer can partner in a fashion to achieve goals that’re scalable rather than just putting up random posts on social channels.

Obsessing over number of followers

While having a large social fan following is great and is a parameter to choose an influencer for your brand, you can’t obsess about the number of followers one has and depend solely on that. **‘The more, the better’ doesn’t necessarily hold true for influencer marketing**. It’s more about choosing the right person for the respective campaign. When you only keep an eye on followers, you lose the relevance of engagement opportunities and rates. The ability of an influencer to motivate and engage followers is what matters. Thus, having 20k followers but able to motivate only 100 of them is nowhere close to having 10k followers and being able to motivate 500 of them. Leverage ‘micro-influencers’ across the long-tail of your subject area for maximum traction with the widest set of prospects.

Leah adds:

Marketers should look for the appropriate brand/product fit above all things. It should be natural for an influencer to incorporate sponsored products into their social posts. As important is ensuring that the brand allows the influencer to utilize their specific voice and tone within sponsored posts. If not, the sponsored post will seem inauthentic from that specific influencer and immediately lose credibility as well as impact.

Additional considerations ‘after’ brand fit:

Reach indicates potential, not probable as it relates to pay-out. It's important to ensure that someone with a large audience has an engaged audience, not just numbers. Look at sponsored post engagements and comments to understand potential performance.

As it relates to competitors, use common sense. Yes, if an influencer has been promoting only Pampers as the best diaper for babies, Huggies should not utilize that person. But, if Huggies is looking for an influencer and there is a ‘great’ brand fit but they've worked with Bounty Paper Towels recently and they'd like to decline, bad idea. Keep competitive filters to a specific brand/product level. Utilizing master brands as a competitive filter will remove valuable influencers from the talent pool.

Pricing should always be taken into account. There are no 'standards' when it comes to influencer payments. You can't rely on a high price tag to yield positive results. It's important to do your research on previous performance to best understand where to spend extra funding and where not to.

Affinity towards one social channel

Another common mistake that you can make is preferring a particular social platform over others because you've got a higher following on that platform. This often leads to reaching an influencer who’s popular on that particular platform. Putting all your social eggs in one basket not only drains up precious resources in just one area, it closes doors to reaching newer audiences and groups that are active on other social platforms.

Consider opting for an influencer who’s popular on a platform where your own brand presence is a bit subdued. This can help you explore new platforms and audiences, increase new traffic, grow brand awareness, and ultimately, your presence and following in other social channels apart from the one you’re popular on. **Being myopic about diverse avenues of reach kills your influencer program**.

It’s all about the relationship

Collaborating with influencers can be addictive. But wide as you may go with each influencer or micro-influencer, it's also important to go deep into each relationship. To leverage influencers to build engagement with your customers/ prospects, you need to demonstrate a credible, non-transactional and sustained relationship and engagement with the influencers themselves.

**When you thrive on long-term influencer relationships, it also sends out a very positive message to other influencers** whom you may like to tap for future campaigns. It sends a strong message that you as a marketer know your brand, and invest meaningfully in the people who are showcasing your brand, no matter how subtly.

Taking the influencer for granted

An influencer is not a model or actor that you can hire for a shoot and who will say exactly what you want them to say. They’re influencers for a reason and that needs to be respected. **Equal distribution of power is the foundation stone to a strong, prolific influencer program or campaign**. It’s like a symbiosis and both the sides need each other equally. Any negativity in this symbiosis will be parasitic for your influencer marketing.

To ensure such a situation never arises, it’s important that you and your influencer(s) collaborate regularly through exchanging of ideas. This way they get to know you and you get to know them better and in person. Trust is paramount here along with creative freedom which is what influencers thrive on. Letting them do what they know works best is what works for the brand. When you pester or bother them too much with a lot of ‘I and me’, they’ll get disengaged. And, disengaged influencers result in disengaged customers.

Leah highlights:

One of the largest gaps in place today exists within the creative direction for sponsored posts. Brands are looking for their approved brand messaging to be front and center within the post. They are wanting to stick to the corporate script that has been written for them and maintaining the same guardrails for an influencer ad as they would for a scripted TV commercial. When working with an influencer, the more you script, the more likely you'll potentially hurt performance. That influencer has built his/her base of following from the ground up. He/She understands his/her audience and knows the type of content to produce to maximize engagement. It's important to allow enough flexibility in guardrails and direction to truly maximize the potential for return.

According to Leah, the additional gaps are:

Timing: As much as you're looking for your holiday recipes to make a splash in October when you begin your campaign, you'll see them maximized when the user is actually looking for their party planning ideas on Pinterest a week before their party.

Measurement: It's important to look at both short-term and long-term impact for influencer marketing as the content lives on past its post period. The Halloween recipe that was posted in 2017 will end up in the search results for 2018 and 2019...etc. The YouTube video created to showcase 'how to change your oil' will be searched for throughout the year, not just during your promotional period.

Apart from the above errors, nonadherence to the US Fair Trade Commission (FTC) rules is also something you must avoid. The onus is on you to establish how the influencers label your branded content. Failing to demark the posts which might appear as an endorsement or sponsored can land you in FTC troubled waters.

Influencer marketing is a wonderful thing that marketers can leverage but its effectiveness depends on how you manage to stay clear of the above-mentioned errors. Now that you know what to avoid in your influencer marketing, go out there and own your influencer marketing program!

    This article was first appeared on MarTech Advisor