#enjoying problematic media is a Good Thing

[gearbox-doll]

If I see one more post about how liking HP and separating the art from the artist is a Moral Crime I'm going to scream

[wasabikitcat]

community college is so funny because half of the teachers are like "For this class you need to use lockdown browser for all quizzes and tests. You need to buy this 70 dollar textbook, and all papers turned in must be in APA format with a title page even if they're only 500 words long. I will not accept late assignments. Also you have a minimum of 4 assignments a week." and the other half are like "you don't need proctoring for the final exam I trust you. here's a download link to a pirated copy of the textbook. as long as your writing is coherent and demonstrates an understanding of the material I literally could not care less what format you use. I can't figure out how canvas works so I'm not giving you due dates, just make sure it's turned in before the grading period ends. your only weekly assignment is a forum post with a minimum of 100 words."

[butchdykekondraki]

where do you draw the line on "problematic" media? Or is it just "if I like it then its Good and if i dont then You Better Not Like It."? If this sounds like an overdramatic rephrasing then lmk cuz I'd rather talk civilly about this than argue. Same thing if we're coming off hostile. Not our intent but our mistake if so.

idk really! my stance has always just been "if this media is problematic for the sake of being problematic (south park for example) / problematic due to the creators own biases (hazbin hotel for example) then you shouldnt be giving it attention" but generally i think all media is gonna be a bit problematic. like take scp for example, its generally an interesting and well-made community project. HOWEVER, it has its problematic elements (the weird misogynistic comments/ideas in certain scps/tales, the early 2010s nazi jokes, Dr Brights Entire Existence) that tie into it being considered problematic by some. but its still Good. its weird and problematic jokes are awful, but the media itself is good. it's just best to just enjoy things critically, and not to just automatically assume that everything you like is Inherently Good and everything you dislike is Inherently Bad yknow.

[queer-reader-07]

queer characters are allowed to die in media. and it isn’t inherently A Problem or homophobic when they do.

i understand that it hurts seeing queer people die in shows and books and movies, especially if you’re queer and you saw yourself in those characters.

but the thing is, if you want better queer rep in media you have to be ok with queer characters being treated the same way cishet characters are treated. and that means letting them die sometimes.

Bury Your Gays is a problem, I’m not going to pretend like it’s not. but Bury Your Gays isn’t synonymous with every death of a queer character that happens. you’re allowed to be hurt and devastated by a character death, but i don’t think it’s fair to act like that character death is part of some wider issue just because that character is part of a minority group.

not every queer story is sunshine and rainbows with a happily ever after. some queer stories are violent, some are devastating, and people die in some of them. and that is OK.

if we act like queer people can’t die in media we’re contributing to the othering of our community. it’s saying “queer people are this special group you can’t ever do a bad thing to in media because if you do it’s homophobic.” which is not a true statement.

we can’t act like every death of a queer character is homophobic or has capital I Implications about the writer’s opinions on queer people. if we keep pushing that specific narrative queer stories are going to be stifled. writers need to be able to tell the stories they want, even if that includes a queer person dying. and acting like they can’t is doing more harm than good.

you can dislike a writer’s decision, you can stop watching a show because of that decision. that is OK. but you don’t get to go around saying the writer is homophobic because they did something you didn’t like to a character you loved.

[cloudysfluffs]

Don’t listen to haters, everything ever spread about Vivzie was disproven. Your art is cute.

LMAOOOOOOOO NO IT WASNT????????!!??!?!?

[musical-chick-13]

"This show is SO good, you should watch it!!"

I gotta be honest. If I look at a character list on Wikipedia and get five characters down without seeing a single woman, it's probably not for me.

[thatscarletflycatcher]

I'm trying to articulate a thought: while a moral reading of a text is necessary and I'd say unavoidable, a judgement of a text cannot begin and end in its value as a didactic piece for teaching morality to the reader (or reinforcing their sense of moral selves).

This doesn't mean people should read books that make apology of things the person finds morally or psychologically repulsive, just because there's some artistic value in them anyways.

But I have seen people for whom reading (and engaging with media in general) becomes a moral race in which their enjoyment of literature must be thoroughly justified by the -often only superficially ascertained- moral value of the themes and lessons of the text, and for whom the things they read are a letter of presentation of the moral principles they spouse.

In other words, instead of the moral principles of the person delineating the framework through which they approach the text, it is a checklist of things the text must explicitly contain in order to be seen as having any worth at all.

Which is a rather sad and superficial way to engage with things.

[hopecomesbacktolife]

hey, just. friendly reminder that fanfiction is morally neutral.

yes, that includes smutty fics. yes, that includes self-insert fics. yes, that includes the fics you consider Problematic TM and the fics you don’t think are Smart or New. in fact that’s kind of why I’m writing this post.

I know we all love to talk about Themes And Narratives, but—and please listen to me very carefully here—you are not earning Good Place Points for only reading the kinds of fan fiction you feel are Smart or Only Focuses On The Important Things Like Themes.

fan fiction is morally neutral.

what I mean is this: no one is harming you, themselves, or anyone, by writing a fic about two characters having sex. (are you uncomfortable with the fact that I typed the word “sex”? hi, this post is about you. people have sex. and they write and talk about it. it’s seriously fine.)

no one is being harmed by self insert fics, by smutty fics, by anything not exclusively Smart TM about the fandom or analytically adding to it.

(and that’s not to say these two types of fics, that any type of fic, can’t have those elements— some of my favorite fic authors, my mutuals, my tumblr friends, write fic in these genres, and they also explore Themes and Emotions and analyze character traits and histories and write brilliant plots and incredible character arcs and yknow what, it’s amazing! it’s fantastic to examine what makes two characters react a certain way to x situation while also having them fuck nasty about it!) (and yes, I did just type ‘fuck nasty about it’ and I promise, that’s fine, too.)

what I’m saying, though, is that it doesn’t NEED that to, I dunno, somehow validate it into existing. it just Is. it just Exists. it doesn’t need an aspect you Approve Of TM in order to earn the right to be shared, to be written, to be published and commended and interacted with and read. it just. Is.

and I think a lot of especially younger, or newer, tumblr users especially get uncomfortable with that, and they unintentionally veer right (..ha) into self-censoring, puritanical behavior which is exactly what every person trying to ban books and generally kill art, wants. (and we’re not even going to examine in depth here, beyond mentioning it, the fact that policing, censuring, and banning art has historically and still today is being used to silence marginalized voices, so, I ask you to keep that in mind as you think on this, too, please.)

what I’m trying to say is this—if you personally don’t enjoy smut, don’t enjoy self insert fics, don’t enjoy a certain genre, that’s great, you do you! but, you must, must understand that this is not a moral stance. You are not objecting to a problematic practice, exploited workers, consent issues, labor crises… none of that applies, because no one in these stories is a real person. a story written about two Star Trek characters kissing on the bridge of the Enterprise is just that, a story. there is no actor for whose rights to fight, no wages to dispute fairness of, no ethical ramifications of scenes to discuss. these are Fictional People in Fictional Situations.

fan fiction is morally neutral.

and the moment you try to make yourself feel Better TM, More Correct TM, or—one of the ones I encounter the most—Smarter TM, by saying oh, I don’t read that kind of fic, I read the good kind, with thought in it—

you’re not only causing harm, you’re actively employing art censoring behavior. is that something that you want to do? I hope not. I certainly don’t.

next time you see a fic or a genre you don’t Approve Of TM, please remember the easiest way of exhibiting that— simply scrolling by or blocking a tag! If you’re on ao3, their system is incredible for niche content searches, and blocking a tag even here on tumblr will (most of the time) work.

I just., there’s so many better options out there for you than to… act like this. I believe you, we, all of us, can be better than this.

fanfiction. is. morally. neutral.

[arcaneyouth]

becoming somebody who doesn't really """consume content""" (i don't watch shows or movies other than maybe once every 4-6 months, i play games 3-5 times a month and it's usually skyrim, i haven't read a book in years, i don't listen to music that wasn't recommended to me by friends or showed up in a cool animation i saw, i don't participate in fandom, and i mainly watch the same 3 video essayists and 3 vod channels on youtube) makes being on this site such a fascinating experience. because even normal drama is like a shadow under the water for me. "how fucking dare you watch [x] problematic media just because you like the genre you need to look at stuff that isn't problematic PLEASE" and i don't even know what the x problematic media is. obviously these posts are not for me but these posts will cross my dash like "YOU have to STOP and GET BETTER" and it's just about consuming content from more diverse creators. which isn't an entirely bad message it just feels like someone walking into my house and going "you have to stop watching dune and instead watch anything from this list in the same genre RIGHT NOW or you're RACIST" and i don't know what dune is. like the sand???????????

[brightest-star2]

growing up is realizing that the authors of your favourite childhood books might actually be shit people

[mundifinis]

love being able to criticize media and still enjoy it <3

[theawkwardvirgin]

have you saw Evil (the serie)? What you think about it?

I haven’t! I looked it up and watched the trailer and it seems like an interesting idea. I like the combination of a contractor, an seminarian, and a psychologist because it does fit what the Church would do (rule out other possible causes instead of assuming demonic interference). I don’t think I’ll watch it, tho, bc I don’t do well with horror, especially when it involves the demonic. It’s too real.

[palant1r]

not proshipper not anti but a secret third thing (person who has a career in the media and, through covering legislative politics, has watched "associating with problematic fiction or entertainment is an indicator of moral degeneracy" rapidly become a mainstream GOP position that they are encoding in legislation to target the queer community under the guise of protecting children, thus coming to the conclusion that positioning the "can people enjoy things that would be immoral IRL in their fiction" debate as a proship v anti fandom debate is akin to pretending that "should we have the death penalty" is a discussion that only matters in Death Note discourse — the extent and manner to which fiction affects reality is an issue that is immediately relevant to today's US politics, and to summarize my opinions on the matter in fandom terms would be to diminish the ways this debate is affecting america Right The Fuck Now. and i have stopped taking "this person is bad for shipping the wrong anime thing and being horny about it" in any sort of good faith ever since I saw it literally used as part of a GOP smear campaign against a transgender state legislator in an attempt to defend the right from backlash after they used their supermajority in the Montana house to prevent her from speaking on the floor. Anyway I think everyone on this site, especially Americans, could benefit from ceasing to think in proship v anti vocabulary and instead developing coherent political positions on the nature of fiction that do not directly align with current fascist political tactics)

[smolskye]

i'm not a marvel fanboy by any means, i don't think ive seen a marvel movie since black panther, but i do find it funny when people use the very real criticism that they serve somewhat as military propaganda as a smug lil gotcha to people who do like them, like come on we all know the reason you don't like them is that they're generic and overhyped, you're not better than everyone by pointing out what we've all known for a decade

[ohnoitstbskyen]

Would you ever consider making videos about the Persona series? I saw your game fest reaction vod, and I don’t know if the SMT/Persona series particularly interests you, but I think your perspective on the vast catalog of Persona in the series would be interesting.

Have a great day!!

I don't want to, no. I have a lot of love in my heart for the Persona series, but also I hate it a lot. There's an endemic homophobia and transphobia that runs through the roots of that series, and a conformist conservatism that keeps rearing its head in its storytelling, and I just can't suffer it anymore.

It breaks my heart because there is so much good in those games, there's so much great art and wonderful characters in there. There's a deep well of empathy for the crises of youth and the struggle to find an identity...

and then also it uncritically, unironically, with its whole full fucking chest plays the "gay men are simpering, pedophilic predators" stereotype for comedy

And I just fucking can't. I cannot stand it.

All media is problematic, nothing is pure, and I don't demand purity of the art I enjoy because down that road lies madness, but I do have a fucking line for what I can stomach and Persona 5 crossed it so far that I have soured on the series entirely. I just can't play these games anymore without remembering that this is what it thinks of queer men.

Again, I'm not here to grandstand, or shame anyone for loving the good things about Persona, it just crossed my line and I don't want to engage with it anymore. I don't want to play it, and I don't want to do videos about it.

[starastrologyy]

Composite Chart Notes 🪐

Hi everyone, please do not copy or repost anything I write on other social media platforms :) I recently became aware of a Pinterest page reposting all my posts from TikTok/tumblr! I don’t have a Pinterest for my astrology blog :)

A composite Aries Rising, can often indicate a very active couple. They may enjoy partaking in various sports or various forms of physical activities together. However, they can appear to be a very argumentative couple, this is especially true of mars, mercury, or pluto squares the composite ascendant. Their conflicts can often be made public.

This is interesting because in terms of long-distance couples, I often see Uranus conjunct the descendent or Uranus in the 3rd house in their composite charts. A composite Sag or Aqua rising is also common in the charts of couples who are long distance.

The North Node in the composite 5th house can indicate a couple who have children together.

Another indication of a “hidden” or private relationship, is if the composite chart ruler is in the 12th house.

This is more of a personal anecdote, but I once had a man slide in my DMs on Instagram. We had mutual followers but I didn’t personally know him. Long story short, he just began offering to buy me things/send me money with nothing in return. Obviously I found that kind of suspicious as there’s usually a catch! He didn’t even push meeting me in person! We just kinda spoke online for a bit. I got his birth details and ran a synastry chart between us. We had no 2nd or 8th house overlays. However, his Jupiter did aspect my Sun (which explains why he was so generous towards me). I then took a look into our composite chart, and our composite Sun & Moon are both in the composite 2nd house! Additionally , the ruler of our composite ascendant is in the 8th. Which explains why our relationship is literally based on him sharing his resources with me, giving me money, and buying me things. Obviously not all relationships with this kind of configuration will play out like this, I just thought this was so interesting.

There can be elements of sexual idealizations in relationships where there are hard Mars-Neptune aspects in the composite chart. One or both people may feel as if they have met their “dream” sexual partner if the orb is particularly tight. However, once the illusion or initial “high” fades. This aspect can prove to be problematic in many ways. There can be deceptions and disappointments that start to manifest. Mars square Neptune is common to see in the charts of *affairs* or short lived sexual relationships. However, please remember the entire chart needs to be taken into consideration.

Couples who travel a lot together usually have significant 3rd and 9th house placements in the composite. Jupiter in the composite 9th, 3rd, or conjunct the composite Mercury can also indicate a couple that travels frequently.

A couple with Jupiter or Venus in the composite 7th house, can make very good business partners. Couples who have the ruler of their composite midheaven, in the 7th house, may also decide to go into business together.

My readings are still open for those interested ! The link is in my bio :)