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therealgothambychelsealauren · 28 days

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Chapter I: While in the Shadows

*opening sequence - making coffee, getting ready for school*

In 2021, the National Institute of Health published a study that demonstrated how parents were statistically more likely to misperceive a black child as feeling angry than a white child. The NIH used buzzwords like "adultification" and "racialized anger bias" to explain the disproportionate phenomenon between race of children and mis-labeling of emotions. Basically, to scientifically say what us Black folk already know - the "angry Black woman" stereotype wasn't created by accident.

I had many things to be angry about in my teen years; the star of the boys' soccer team didn't wanna date me, my sister needed medication we couldn't afford, my clothes were found on sale at Goodwill and Old Navy, I was a child and a co-parent at the same time, my mother had demons in her head that needed more than holy water to exorcise.

In the study I mentioned earlier, they conclude that a large reason for the "racially-biased misconception of anger in children" is because it correlates with how Black children are also misperceived as being older (and presumed more mature) than they actually are. And like these researchers and other Black folks can tell you, there are cultural and systemic contributions from our society that allow this correlation to exist. The suggested solution to this psycho-social problem is to acknowledge the cultural phenomenon and the impact it has on our children.

For me, I just doodled cartoons and read comic books.

I was the oldest of 3 kids. We needed a dad - a safe dad, who didn't make us feel like we had to sleep with one eye open if he stayed the night, who was gonna keep our stomachs from growling and the bullies from laughing.

But despite my mother's beauty and desperation, Superman would only hover before vanishing from our doorstep.

My brother and sister were into Spiderman mostly; they liked his vibrant bright colors and his cool backstory. He made the spiders creeping around our section-8 housing less scary (they could potentially give you superpowers, apparently). And of course, the iconic quote - "with great power comes great responsibility" is a line that just carresses the nostalgia part of our brains.

But I was of the minority opinion. At the public library, the sibs read adventures about Peter Parker and the Avengers rescuing New York City, whereas I gravitated towards the darker grittier side of comicbooks - the side that mirrored my reality rather than glamorized it.

"You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain" - that was the favorite movie quote I introduced myself with on the first day of 9th grade history class, and I remember the judgemental glances and snickers exchanged amongst my classmates.

The Long Halloween.

Batman Year One.

Arkham Knight.

The Killing Joke.

My library list of titles and due dates was a monochromatic receipt in theme and morals compared to what my siblings borrowed. My mother noticed, and she especially noticed when I dressed up as Batgirl for Halloween three years in a row. She didn't mind Batman, but pictures of the Joker scared her. My brother had to convince her to let us watch The Dark Knight on DVD. I think when my sister moved on from My Little Pony to Sailor Moon and my brother became obsessed with Minecraft instead of Legos, my mother hoped I'd turn away from the dark compelling images of bloody clowns and tormented Caped Crusaders into something less dark and disturbing.

But I needed the Batman.

Drawing Batman punching The Riddler square in the jaw felt like releasing my own fistfights through my knuckles tightly clenched around a pencil. When Batman snarled, I gritted my teeth. When the Joker laughed, I screamed.

Batman mirrored the reality my soul writhed and burned within. Every morally gray act was a validation of my anger in such a corrupt system. I wasn't a villain, I was a product of my environment. I wasn't a hero, I was a survivor.

In college, I drafted a short film inspired by this coping mechanism of my childhood. My freshman year of college was the first year of the Covid pandemic, the momentous year of the Black Lives Matter movement, and the year I realized my mother's white parenting and upbringing did not protect me from the biases and cruelties systemically distributed to Black folks. My final year of college occurred soon after the overturn of Roe v. Wade. Personal and world-wide losses and challenges were faced and scarred in the years between.

After college and the worst summer of my adulthood, I packed my bags for an opportunity to serve as a peer mentor for students in underresourced schools in the real Gotham City - New York City. It was an experience that taught me a lot and, unfortunately, burnt me a lot, both in physical burnout and in an emotional metaphorical sense. Following the year of servitude, I was accepted into law school.

Which brings me to today, the start of my first 1L semester. It's exciting, but also harrowing as I learn how much of my life has been a pawn in the unsaid chess match between law and empathy, between control and anarchy. I have stayed in Gotham, never feeling so at home anywhere else.

And as I learn more and more about the legal system, I feel the dark cowl of the Batman hovering closer and closer over my mind like a noose dangling over my neck, dooming me to risk dying a hero or play the game long enough to become one of them. Can I be clever and resourceful like the Batman? Will this rope tied by generations of oppression choke me out, or will my hands snap it at just the right moment to use it like a grappling hook and pull myself up above the cycle?

#Spotify

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sub-urbanwitch · 1 year

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Holy bias Batman!

#cameronposting #wikipedia #wanted to figure out what the ‘Lammas dance’ in ‘Star of the Co. Down’ was referring to and #i am amazed #Hey if anyone that does Wikipedia sees this please fix the Lammas article #I’d do it but I don’t know how

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moonie-love · 7 years

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I received an email on Oct 7, 2017, asking, “Do you support a simple and fair tax plan?” from Trump Headquarters.

First off, I did not sign up for any email from the GOP, and so it concerns me that they have my email address. Probably shouldn’t be surprised, all things considered, but I don’t have to like it.

Second, I don’t trust them. So, let’s see what this survey is really about. They’re already off to a bad start for me because of the subject line. It is written to garner immediate support. People like simple and fair. Complicated and unfair are confusing, frustrating, and upsetting. So instead of a neutral subject, it is grooming the reader to support it. Blech.

“Official Tax Cuts: Supporter Survey”

That’s not biased at aaaaaaall. Sarcasm. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but labeling it “Supporter” seems to be setting up the “correct” response for the reader.

“Do you agree it’s time for tax cuts that benefit the middle-class and hardworking Americans rather than the wealthy and special interests?”

Welp, yeeeeeeeesss. ... I don’t trust you. Why are you asking this? It seems to me like another ploy to gain immediate support and start the reader in the habit of saying Strongly Agree. Especially since it’s being sent to my middle-class butt. Plus, wow that’s vague. How useful would any data gained from this be? I can’t imagine that very many people would disagree, right up until maybe they gave a percentage. After all tax cut could be 1% or 25%, and those will have very different reactions, but there’s no specific number or range here.

“Do you agree we need a simpler tax plan that, for a majority of Americans, can be filed on a ‘postcard’ rather than outsourcing and paying for a professional?”

Side-eyes. One, you want to eliminate an entire job category. Gotcha. Second, simpler is sooo tempting. People like simple. BUT. Would it work? What would we sacrifice to get that simpler plan? From my tax experiences, the complications are generally where we find the tax breaks. The question of “did you buy a house this year” adds another line, which means that it makes the process more complicated. But, correct me if I’m wrong, that is designed to give some relief to those that did buy a house. Get rid of the question, get rid of the benefit. That’s probably an oversimplification, but the question of trade-off still stands. What would be the cost of simplifying taxes? This survey doesn’t address that. It just wants the reader to check that Strongly Agree box.

“Do you agree we need to eliminate harmful, devastating taxes such as the Death Tax and the Alternative Minimum Tax?“

Holy bias, Batman! You just led the reader to the acceptable answer. Of course we should “eliminate harmful, devastating” things. What person would argue with those adjectives? Eliminate those three words, and you have a much better survey question on principle.

Moving on, Death Tax, isn’t that where someone dies and the closest relatives, aside from grieving, are now being taxed. Well that sounds horrid, but let’s go look up details. ... Why is estate tax showing up in all my search results? Click link. Ah. Same thing, different name. And we have bias again. “Death” tax sounds much, much worse. Alrighty, details. Yeah, it’s a tax on the transfer of wealth from the deceased to the living, but lookie here. It’s related to the gift tax, and I know from experience that the gift tax has a limit. If the gift is under it, no tax. I wonder if there’s something similar for the Death Tax...yep. What’s the limit? ... 5 million, rounding down. -_- So the only people paying this are already, or going to be, insanely wealthy, and my middle class butt probably won’t ever have to worry about it. So that means they want to get rid of a tax on the wealthy. Yippee. -_-

(Note, since this is a federal survey, that’s what I’m looking at. Some states have a lower limit on their estate tax, but that’s not the focus here.)

Alternative Minimum Tax, what’s that? ... Ow. That made my brain hurt. What I took away from it was that due to it not being adjusted over the years, it’s started to affect lower income households, but it seems to be designed to affect higher income and corporations. I can’t tell if it lets them pay less overall or if it’s an additional tax (brain hurts). So I can’t comment on that. However, it was mentioned that repealing this would be costly, in the hundreds of billions or into the trillions range of costly. That sounds like a bad idea.

(I googled and clicked wikipedia for these, and the AMT looked to be out of date [200X instead of 201X], but I just wanted a general idea of what it’s talking about.)

I find it interesting that, even though the survey opened with a question about the middle/lower classes, both taxes it just mentioned affect, or are designed to affect, the upper class. That seems fishy to me.

“Do you agree we need tax cuts that encourage American companies, jobs, and capital to remain in the US rather than overseas?”

Yeeesss...that sounds good, but what’s the catch? Who would be getting these cuts? Since it mentions companies and jobs, I’d assume they would. Again, not aimed at the middle class. Next, if the problem is that they’re going overseas, what is the reason? If taxes aren’t sending them away, then cutting them won’t necessarily address the problem. I don’t have enough experience or knowledge to comment further on this one.

“Do you agree we need tax cuts that support 3 percent growth in the next 10 years to supplement millions of new American jobs and higher family incomes?”

I am convinced that these people couldn’t write a sound survey to save their lives. Growth! More jobs! Higher incomes! Apply here! Again, this leads the reader to the answer. And again, I’m not convinced that tax cuts will accomplish the proposed goal. Again, again, who gets these cuts? It doesn’t say.

In conclusion, this is a badly written survey (for the purposes of gathering unbiased data at least, I’d bet it will do a splendid job of gathering biased data to support the conclusion the writer(s) wanted in the first place). It seems to address itself to the middle/lower classes, yet it’s topics seem to be tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations.

Now, what on earth should I do with it??? There is an “Other, please specify” category. I could use that. But would it help? It’s better than being silent, so let’s do it.

Out of curiosity, anyone else get this survey email?

Edit: something I just noticed, the options are Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, No opinion, and Other. Skipped right over Strongly Disagree, didn’t it?

#long post #survey analysis #politics #us politics #us tax politics #tax politics #how not to write a survey #holy bias batman #moonie-love puts on their thinking cap #i'm gonna regret posting this aren't i

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forthehonorofraeskull · 5 years

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Starkid moments in songs that are nice to listen to :)

"but I looooove, I loOoove, I lOOoOoooOOOoVE!! being at your side!!" (Joey Richter, Sidekick)

"We've got to figure it out! We've got to find! Ourselves! Some answers!" (Cast of Firebringer, We Are People Now)

"What I see right theeere, is a prisonER, who's sittin' on top of the kEY!! SO, kick it up a notch, if you ever wanna be,,, frEeEeEeeeee..." (Dylan Saunders, Kick it Up a Notch)

"Ja'far! That ugly old viZIIIIIEEEEEER!!" (Robert Manion, Dream a Little Harder)

"I'm so sad that we are, dooooOoooooOOoONE!" (Joey Richter/Jaime Lyn Beatty, Heaven on Earth {Finale})

"I will try, not to cry, but no one needs to say goodbYEEEE!" (Cast of A Very Potter Sequel, Days of Summer)

"Baby, you're not alone! 'Cause you're here with me! And nothin's gonna TAKE. US. DOWN. . . . . cAuUuUuUuUse NOTHIN' CAN KEEP ME FROM LOVIN' YOU-" (Darren Criss/Joey Richter/Bonnie Grueson/Jaime Lyn Beatty, Not Alone)

"If I can see past, tHe, sur/face, finding the worth that is hiding beneath your life, aNd, pur/pose, and all of a sUDDEn, I feel like I've run into something that no one has seen!" (Meredith Stepien/Dylan Saunders, The Way I Do)

"I have falLEN, from up hIGH, the world has sAid goodbyYe! I'm not an anGEL, not the aNSWER, I'm just going nowhere faster.." (Darren Criss/Joe Walker, I Was)

"Hey, Mr. Business, how d'ya, how d'ya, how d'ya dOOOOOOO?" (Jaime Lyn Beatty/Mariah Rose Faith, Cup of Poisoned Coffee)

"An aria to rule them aAAAAAlLl! They'll throw us their money, ((at full price admissionnnn)), THE WORLD will come tumblin' DOOOOOOwn!" (Robert Manion, Show Stopping Number)

"(Holy Musical Batman!) WOAAAAAAAAAAAH!" (Cast of Holy Musical B@man/Dylan Saunders specifically, Holy Musical B@man)

"Long agOOOO, and fAAAAr, awaaaaay,, I used to knOOOOW how to plAy the gAAAame...I was someone I am not today." (Clark Baxtresser, Long Ago and Far Away)

*these are only some but it's a solid list*

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humandisastersquad · 4 years

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I s2g every time I sign up for a research study I always end up in the placebo group

#yeah yeah pattern bias etc etc #but I cannot recall being in a study where I was actually in the treatment group #the main reason I signed up for this study was the possibility of some free physio sessions for my back #But nope I gotta do business as usual ugh #like yes I am fully aware of the importance of the placebo group but it doesn’t make it suck less #holy personal post batman

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thejudgingtrash · 4 years

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Annabeth is a good person,but not a nice or pleasant one,IMO.

YES.

That’s it. That’s the post. Pack it up everybody, we just cracked the case and cleared up one of the most compelling fights in the PJO fandom since forever. Good job everybody, clap it out and there’s the door! Don’t forget ordering the drinks at Starbucks, Mitch! They’re on me!

Okay, but on a more serious note: YES. YES EXACTLY.

And before some of you roll your eyes or grab your pitchforks – put your biases aside and hear me out for once. I like Annabeth. She’s my in my top three characters only second to Percy himself. I love Percabeth. It’s my favorite ship in the entire series and to be frank, the only ship that I care about PJO wise. Hell, I spend my time creating my own headcanons or writing my own fanfics with Percabeth being the star in them.

But that is not to say that I’m unable to see how certain things have developed over the years or where they stand now in regard to Annabeth. I’m not here to ignore things that have been said and/or done due to or in the name of Annabeth and I’m not here to vilify anyone that doesn’t like her. And I’m here to admit that I’m guilty of some of the things that may be addressed in this meta essay that you will read in just a second. However, I try my best to assure you, that I’m for once able to recognize my own bias.

Warning: a monster essay lies right upon you.

This should count as a paper of its own.

Back to the statement on top: I would go out even further to reframe your claim, anon:

Annabeth Chase is a good character but not a nice or pleasant person.

Annabeth is a wonderful character but she isn’t a nice one. Or at least not nice to everyone. She is (construction wise if I dare say) the best character out of the series. She has her positive traits (she’s caring, she’s emotional, she’s encouraged and volunteers, she fights for what she believes in, she forgives (even if doing so begrudgingly)) but she also has her negative traits (she’s stubborn, she’s brash, changing her mind takes forever, she is prejudiced, she baits others). That balances things out. She is branded as the intelligent kid but does irrational things (like I’ve just said a) she’s a kid and b) she’s not a robot). She should probably know better, but we all make mistakes and hopefully grow and learn from them. The clouds in the sky do blur and cover our visions sometimes.

Annabeth had clashes with other characters or was about to have fights due to her stubbornness or jealousy (Rachel, Reyna, etc.) and has of course her problems with the mortal world and her family but she also found new friends, some things cleared up throughout the narration and she was/is quite popular in Camp Half-Blood.

The thing is: she doesn’t have to be nice or pleasant (as a character). Or at least not all the time. Her character is humanized. That is what or who she is. Human. She does stand out as a character, not just because she’s the (future) love interest. She feels like someone you could meet in real life and either adore from the top to the bottom or declare as your biggest enemy. And that’s totally okay if you lean either way – liking or disliking her. Or even feeling indifferent about her. Also great!

To say that she has been the best character that Riordan has crafted is easy to say, because she has been sculpted after Riordan’s wife. He had a model he could rub some of real-life events or traits on. That’s not the problem. The problem truly doesn’t lie on Riordan’s side for the most part for once.

The problem is inherently on the fandom’s side. What the fandom does, how it acts and how it treats Annabeth as a character is the problem. The problems vary but it’s mostly the mischaracterization of Annabeth, starting fights and fan/ship wars, internalized misogyny (in some cases) and how some of the Annabeth stans lash out (ha, got firsthand experience in that field among many of my friends and mutuals!). There is a reason why many people are wary of people that have Annabeth or Percabeth related URLs.

The fact that we see Annabeth mostly through Percy’s lens and (until the Heroes of Olympus saga hits) we never really see her in chill everyday situations is essentially Riordan leaving the back door of the house open, ready for all of you asshats to rob his mansion in Boston. Because a frame on a character means that we don’t get to see the character in its entirety (unlike we do with Percy in PJO for the most part). That means a bunch of stuff is left open for interpretation which is the reason why Annabeth gets so many polarized headcanon and opinions tossed around. I think that is one of the true appeals of Annabeth. You can add on stuff and it necessarily doesn’t have to contradict itself.

We have people calling her abusive due to a (n admittedly stupid and unnecessary) judo flip and we have people that act like she’s never done anything wrong. People sorta use this excuse to form and shape Annabeth however they want and distort her characterization.

People in the fandom act like Annabeth is some weird prized possession. We perceive Annabeth mostly through the eyes of others (Percy, Apollo, etc.) and when we had some sort of insight in her ways (MOA, HOH) it felt… weird? Somewhat? Like Riordan left two bullet points of her characterization and told the ghostwriter: aight, fuck it up, gringo, see you on Tuesday and greet Fred the next time you see him for me.

There have been many posts lately (by Tharini, Simi, Sawasawako, Jewishpercy and Annie I believe?) that HOO Percabeth felt weird. That they felt weirdly constructed, that there was no conflict, no growth. It felt stagnating, like we’re turning back. We had five books prior where we had Annabeth and Percy slowly shifting from disliking to liking and crushing each other. True development. And when we finally got the cake it felt… dissatisfying. Like the cheap box stuff and not the delicious exquisite taste that we were promised.

I said it previously in my Percabeth ship roast, but let me repeat myself: many Percabeth related things are straight up fanon. Some of it is very old fanon so that’s been unable to distinguish unless you’ve read the books recently and subtract nearly 99,9% of things you see on Tumblr (and occasionally the other shitty parts of the fandom like Reddit, IG, Twitter. Although they mostly steal and recycle tumblr stuff oh well. But back to the topic).

The way people treat Annabeth is so strange. She’s either an innocent fluffy smush baby that’s never harmed a fly and all that she wants for Christmas is being Percy’s lapdog or she’s the devil incarnate, broke into your house, killed your parents Batman style, kicked your puppy and didn’t flush the toilet on the way out. I think this is what mostly makes people hate her or the ship Percabeth. And both extremes are wrong and right at the same time? She is multifaceted so both stereotypes are true and untrue and sorta cancel each other out in the same way.

The true reason why people dislike Annabeth is because the stans are doing the most. (The haters as well, don’t get me wrong, but oh boy. Piss of a stan and you’ll know what I mean). That isn’t inherently new. Are you guys old enough to remember the ship wars that have happened cross platform? Perachel vs. Percabeth? Oh boy, oh boy. I saw some kids on tumblr a few months ago trying to infiltrate both tags and start shit (and also fail). The fact that Rachel still gets used as the bitchy (ex) girlfriend in fanfics? It’s 2020 guys. I know this apocalyptic year is far from perfect and over but I think we can let this trope die, right? Right? I thought we’ve established that Rachel is a pretty chill charcter by now… right?

If you posted your stuff on FFN back in 2010-2013 and it wasn’t the typical cutesy Percabeth story (Goode High, the gods read TLT, punk/prep Percabeth, college AU, etc.) people would’ve come for your fucking throat. Not because the story or the narration was shit. But because the pairing wasn’t Annabeth and Percy (in the sense that Annabeth had to be paired with Percy. I mean Percy gets shipped with everyone and their mother but for Annabeth it was strictly Percy. As annoying as this whole Connabeth thing is – the people behind it actually had a point. She never had a different love interest unless it’s a Percy centered story and he goes off dating Athena, Artemis and Zoe at the same time for some odd reason. Yeah, FFN Percy ships are something). Or it wasn’t the action filled canon compliant story or it wasn’t an AU that was popular.

People were really stubborn, snobbish and wanted their stuff in the four five boxes that were the most popular ones and that’s it. People have been bullied off the site in many fandoms, so it’s not a PJO-only thing but it’s still sad that it happened. (Off-note: most of these FFN tropes are still alive and well and thriving on AO3. Don’t be so snobbish and pretend that every piece you’d find there is a holy grail. There’s a lot of trash you have to waddle through. Same with Wattpad, Tumblr or anywhere else where fanfics get posted. Also had this discussion with Annabeth stans. Sigh).

And Tumblr back then? Forget it, wasn’t much better.

That view has sorta changed (at least for people that have been in the fandom for several years or have managed to find a way to navigate through it) but some of the negative sentiment from back in the day has survived. Be it by new fans coming in or from old fans that never let their stance die. The aggression feels differently and somewhat not. (I don’t know if the anon function had been abused that much back in the day. I was an observer not a participant in the fandom).

Crack a joke at Annabeth’s expense (Kal’s famous “Annabeth is a Republican” post or Dee Dee’s and many others “Annabeth has the education of a second grader, chill with the college plans, girlie” stance) and you have people insulting you, making callout posts, unfollowing and blocking you (based on only that? Okay, honey), making aggressive counter-posts, etc. in a minute. If you respond with “It’s a joke, it’s not real” you have a 50/50 chance of either getting blown off or embarrassing them so that they apologize for once.

This isn’t just about jokes. You can make a headcanon that’s not the cozy cute convenient mainstream saga and people would react the same way. Or art piece (no, not including the whole Tannabeth Blackchase shtick done by Viria and others) or fanfics.

People project so much onto the unfinished canvas that is Annabeth Chase that any form of negative sentiment as little as someone not liking her to straight up criticism, regardless of how tiny it may be, seems like an affront. Like an invitation to a fight. Like an insult to them, their character, everything they believe in. Let me state something:

You are NOT Annabeth Chase. Annabeth Chase IS NOT you. Annabeth Chase is NOT real. Her feeling cannot be hurt. Someone criticizing, disliking, joking about her or even insulting her will not bother her. Someone making a statement about her is not an insult to YOU.

Let me repeat that:

Annabeth Chase isn’t real. Annabeth Chase isn’t you.

So think a little before you act? I get it when you’re a kid and new to fandoms or haven’t been up with fan cultures in the past and are back in the scene. But if you’re in your late teens or even older as an adult and you’re unable to understand that you aren’t what you like – you aren’t the extension of a fictional character – I feel incredibly sorry for you. Because that’s just incredibly sad. Someone disliking something you like isn’t an attack of your character. It shows you that you are you and the other person is a human just like you. That they just have different taste. Disliking something you like isn’t a crime, you know? But me feeling sorry for the way some of y’all act won’t mean that that’s even remotely okay. Especially if you’re no longer in the intended audience for PJO age wise and should know better.

This isn’t a “white stans” only thing. I’ve seen and witnessed firsthand how people of color, mainly women of color, act the same or not even worse when it comes to her character. People have projected their problems and real-life occurring events into her character (I’m sure that she isn’t the only character nor that this is the only fandom where this is happening) and in some cases like I’ve said cannot separate their own personality from the fictional world. Fights with woc happened because of Annabeth fucking Chase. So many things have happened in the fandom the past few months, mostly due to people being forced staying at home because of the quarantine but I’d say it’s 10% on quarantine and 90% on people for acting up like this.

So here’s a little story: There was the act of Riordan blowing the fandom up because of his own stupidity and being unable to apologize for his mischaracterization and lack of research (the whole Piper fiasco) back in June (?) and admits the upset fandom, people on Twitter, Tumblr and Discord legit thought that none of that mattered and that the outcry was destroying Annabeth Chase’s birthday. That’s right. People thought that Annabeth Chase’s non-existing birthday because she’s a fictional character had a higher priority than the rupture and prevalent racism in the fandom. Okay. This isn’t a great look, Annabeth stans. And this of course pissed a lot of people off. I made a post about it and someone not only berated three other people on said post but no, we had a mighty argument which had disrupted many friendships in our circle which haven’t recovered until this very day. We both had our parts in it and no one is innocent. But the cause of this still remains Annabeth Chase or how people prioritize her non-existing well-being. Anyway. I’m getting agitated just thinking about it.

Let’s go back to the characterization thing with Annabeth. Let me remind you:

Annabeth Chase is an asshole. There I’ve said it in a post ages ago (too lazy to look it up, sorry) and I’ll say it again. And that’s not me insulting her. That’s me actually loving that about her. Annabeth is one of the very few unapologetic female characters that really showed all young readers across the world that you can be a girl, a badass, smart, strong, standing up for yourself and what you believe in. You don’t have to be nice. You don’t have to hide your feelings. You don’t need a man in all cases but it’s also okay to accept help and defeat.

A large reason why I think she’s an incredibly important character in children’s literature/YA because many other novels (mostly (sadly)) have the “Oh, I’m a white skinny dark-haired girl that likes unconventional things like READING. I’m not like the other girls, that take care of themselves and pamper themselves by enjoying shopping and wearing make-up. No, I’d rather be one of the boys but a sweet cute little boy and not the jock fuck that drank vodka shots out of a filthy shoe once. Despite me calling myself hideous every man in a 10-kilometer radius falls in love with me and tells me I’m oh so sexy and by the way I’m only 16 years old” shit going on for no goddamn reason.

Yes, I do blame Twilight for this mostly in recent years, but this trope isn’t by any means knew. Pretty sure that you could even use classics as Pride and Prejudice and dissect them in the same manner (Bold statement: Lizzy Bennet is the OG Bella Swan. There. Go fight somewhere in the corner, people). The new wave of YA focuses on girls belittling themselves and only starting to believe in themselves because someone else (mostly the male love interest) tells them they’re worth it. And these books hit the mainstream because they’re incredibly bland and picture perfect white.

With Annabeth it’s different. She shows up for the job and is done with it. (Brie Larson would probably be the perfect in real life version of her. You either like or dislike her. Or you really don’t care). That is what is so refreshing about her. Her unapologetic nature. Can it be off-putting? Yes. Is it annoying? Yes! Hell, every time I read The Lightning Thief, I want to rip her goddamn head off. And it’s just so well written. Her shift from mistrusting Percy but secretly still believing in him to her opening up. Wow, Riordan did something right there.

Annabeth Chase isn’t a young character. She has existed along with PJO for 15 years. She’s on her way to the second decade. I’m pretty sure that with the success of Percy Jackson (and Harry Potter) many lives have been warped and shaped.

But when I say the problem lies mostly in the fandom, it doesn’t mean that Riordan’s completely innocent. The only problem that I have with Annabeth lies not truly with her but the fact that Riordan is only able to produce three variations of female characters:

The sweetheart (Hazel, Silena, Calypso, Hestia)

The strong feminist (Annabeth, Piper, Thalia, Reyna, Artemis)

The bitch (Drew, nearly every female goddess in the goddamn Riordanverse next to every female monster)

And these female characters only know three endings:

End up married with a mortgage, three kids, two dogs and a cat somewhere in Connecticut by the age of twelve

Get dumped into the hunt

Chill on Mount Olympus and only come down to be a nuisance and/or give a cryptic message before going back and doing a godly rave party or something

We know Annabeth as the badass strong female first (or the bitchy character we’re supposed to actually like. Choose your approach), the blueprint so to speak, so some of the other characters feel almost pale in comparison and almost not needed? Doesn’t mean that other characters can’t behave similarly, but it feels kind of redundant especially if their character arcs end in a rather anticlimactic way (Thalia, Reyna). The new additions are the much needed woc as the main story with PJO was inherently white (anyway stan black!Percy and Grover, folks). So it’s not to bash on the new characters, it’s more Riordan’s fault more than anything.

Since Riordan only knows three female character arcs it feels like he tried to copy the formula several ways with different nuances. Some more or less successful. This is where fandom actually comes in handy and helps create more distinguished and fleshed out characters in form of headcanons or fanfiction.

But even in these cases people still make it about Annabeth when it’s time for characters of colors to shine. Remember that whole spiel and discussion that broke out when people (Kal, diver-up, Caitlyn, Bee, reynaisalesbian, etc.) joked about or criticized that Annabeth thinks that she’s having it harder because she’s a blonde? In front of Hazel and Piper? If she would’ve been a real person that’s an invitation for getting decked. And then all hell broke loose because Annabeth stans couldn’t accept the fact that in the real world and/or in fictional worlds the woc/coc have it harder? That the white woman wasn’t the victim that needed the coddling? Yeah, that was mad pathetic.

I hope you people get my point?

Well fuck. I wrote so many things and have the feeling I’ve said nothing. Anyway, I hope I made sense. This is way too long.

TLDR: Chill about Annabeth please. She’s an important character but that doesn’t mean that everyone has to like her, regardless of being a character in the books or a reader/fan of PJO in real life. She isn’t nice or a sweetheart all the time. She also isn’t the monstrous asshole that some try to make out of her.

Peace out.

#Mel answers #pjo #percy jackson #Annabeth chase #percy jackson and the olympians #Percabeth #pjo Meta #Heroes of olympus #hoo #trials of apollo #toa #hazel levesque #piper mclean #reyna avila ramirez arellano #rachel elizabeth dare #pjo fandom #coc #rick riordan #riordanverse

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gryphonfingers · 2 years

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howdy here's a bunch of scattered Gotham thoughts mooostly about the Isabella plotline

[potential spoilers up to S3E8 just in case ur also watching this show in 2022, I haven't watched beyond there yet]

So like, Oswald and Ed have fantastic chemistry, they're undoubtedly the highlight of the show for me. I was hoping they would actually get a chance to be together!! I think they're both interesting interpretations of the characters [though admittedly theres some Ed stuff I'm not fond of, though I'm maybe bias because The Riddler is my favorite Batman rogue] and Oswald lowkey should just. be the main character. Jim Gordon does not hold the show at all for me.

introducing a new love interest for Ed who is LITERALLY played by the same actress as his girlfriend that he accidentally killed???? Inspired. Love it. Why. So fucking goofy.

The fact that the love interest is EXPLICITLY INTO THE FACT ED KILLED HIS GIRLFRIEND AND DRESSES UP LIKE HIS DEAD GIRLFRIEND TO LIKE. SEDUCE HIM INTO CHOKING HER?????????? WILD. SO WILD.

It also in retrospect kind of seems implied that she directly sought him out?? Like looking back on their first meeting like, she approaches him and is like "oh sorry I don't usually talk 2 strangers haha.. but something about u.." and theres the scene after Ed freaks out seeing her wear the glasses that look just like Kristin's glasses where shes like looking down holding her glasses and smiling at them?? Which to me kinda felt like. "Oh she's been planning this"??? and I think there's something kind of interesting in that, like if that was the intent I would have wanted to see that explored more. There was kind of have a similar gross "oooh nice girl only wants dangerous men" thing with Kristin and her exes but this is ramped up to an insane level. I could totally just be misinterpreting those scenes, though the scene where she's like "Oswald I know you love him too :)))))" is kind of sinister. They also establish that she's read every article available about Ed's murders and stay in Arkham and learned what his dead girlfriend looked like from old newspaper articles about it and its like. Holy shit what.

I almost feel like she should have been alive longer?? Maybe also be a villain?? Really drive up that love triangle/romantic tension?? There is something so morbid and gross about her character that makes my brain fucking spin. Like it's bad weird writing but it's also kind of compelling. It's dark camp.

#gotham tv #truly just rambling #gotham

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thattimdrakeguy · 3 years

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Omg yes.

The way people will take something completely out of context and then act like they're right.

You're right alot of people want to be angry. They want to have problems. And its so wierd. Like why? Live life. Have fun. Stop arguing with people on the internet.

Yh I don't I really argue my opinions on the internet either unless someone drags me into the argument. And even then I only argue when it’s something racist, xenophobic, etc.

Like I am a Talia fan (Pre-Morrison Talia). And as you might imagine I get alot of shit for it. Now I don't actively find people with racist takes on Talia and argue with them. But when someone comes to me and starts bullshitting her and my love of her. That's when I get defensive.

Onto the flat opinion thing. Yh that's irritating I don't mind if you have an opinion. I don't mind if you want to discuss it. But you have to be willing to Discuss your opinion not just argue and call names.

Being on the internet is so much easier when you lay back and have fun. More people should try it

There's times where I wanna argue, but then I realize, it's not a fun process at all.

And nearly every argument I've had on this site, like proper argument, not discussion, but argument--It had been powered by someone that didn't even comprehend what I was trying to say. So I have to cipher through like, 12 paragraphs or something to figure out what the fuck they're even talking about.

And my brain will try to respond to what they said, but half way through I realize "Wait, why am I even arguing about this? THAT WASN'T MY POINT", but despite the fact that they didn't even comprehend what I meant to begin with, they'll keep being so dismissive acting, and just cocky. And it's so so groan-worthy and gives me second-hand embarrassment. Like these are fictional characters, what on Earth do they think they're even proving if they can barely read without having to take the most negative interpretation out of it, even if they have to stretch all logic to get to that point?

When it comes to Talia, like holy shit. I didn't believe too much of it at first, because fandoms are typically "WE ARE LIBERAL SO VERY LIBERAL", like in the way where they're probably not as liberal as they think, but they want to use it as an excuse. So they'll overuse buzzwords and stuff. Like I'm liberal myself, but using buzzwords to get attention is just shitty, and treating someone disagreeing with you as a hate-crime is a mockery of real tragedies. So many people will say things are racist when there's no correlation.

But then I took a peak at Twitter, and saw in some random YouTube comment sections, all by happenstance, and I saw some of the most horrific takes on her, and it was incredibly strange. I knew there’d be some, because their always will be sadly, but I didn’t think to the extent I saw it. I don't know jack about Talia, honestly. I really really don't.

Yet, as someone who only really knows her because she's a character in the same world as my fav, and she was in Arkham City and Dark Knight Rises (where she did jackshit as a villain and then died). I know damn well how bad Morrison was with her. Morrison's Batman run is so weird, because people either seem to love everything, or hate everything. It's bizarre.

A lot of stuff I seen, I would know no other way of how to respond to do it, but being defensive lmao

Seeing all the different bizarre people. Like, the faux-brainiacs that are clearly grasping at straws, and stretching any logic to make a point, or the ones that are clearly only saying stuff for a bias--but yet will actively try to portray themselves as being very smart on the topic, are very annoying.

But I also think, I've learned to just let it go more often. Sometimes I'll be so baffled I have to say something, but emotionally I'm at a stage where it's like "Man, that block button is tasty" and act like it doesn't exist. Because if I acknowledged every aspect of reality I'd never know the scent of happiness for many reasons.

#Long Post

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musicalisht · 3 years

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for no reason in particular i decided to rank all the starkid shows

it’s 12:15 am and i have an assignment due at 9 am lets gooooo

12. MAMD - ngl this show is pretty hilarious just not quite as memorable as the others imo and i say this because i don’t remember it all that well past the one time i saw it a few years ago

11. Ani - also very funny and i’ve seen it multiple times and for whatever reason the line “it’s a humorous play on words... that’s where the comedy comes in” is in my daily vocabulary. it’s probably the show i quote the most just because of that one line. and it’s a star wars parody that gives me feel good 80s movie vibes and i love that. but something has to be this far down and i’m sorry it’s gotta be Ani.

10. Black Friday - idk if it was because i was hyped after tgwdlm and had high expectations but honestly the only Starkid show that I kinda didn’t like right away. like i love Dylan and his monologue-y songs but they felt so out of place I was just taken out of it. That being said, all the songs slap and I’m so glad they’re all on spotify so I can add them to my playlists. It was also a bit darker and required some world building and honestly I think I just wasn’t expecting it. Probably in reality I’d rank it same level as Ani, but again I LOVE the music thank you Jeff Blim.

9. Firebringer - Very fun show. Also had high-ish expectations because Meredith and Lauren were leads and I was excited for the first female led show and maybe they weren’t exactly met at first, but got really close, and then I came around afterwards. It’s funny and I loved all the characters and the music is so good and fits the theme really well.

8. A Very Potter Senior Year - every time i watch this (particularly near the end) i’m in tears. It’s so good because Harry Potter is saying goodbye, and the AVPM trilogy is saying goodbye, and the Harry Potter movies/hype was declining, and like I watched it again when I graduated high school and my point is there is a lot of emotional charge at the end of the show, but the whole thing is so fucking funny. I’m gonna be honest though, least favorite of the three AVPM shows, not just because of the way they filmed it but because I don’t remember most of the character conflicts and stories for this show.

7. A Very Potter Musical - I mean it’s really the first one that got them attention how can you not love avpm? Great comedy, great music, great show. I think I lied earlier, I probably quote AVPM more often than Ani.

6. Starship - The Little Mermaid meets aliens, I love it. Also, very great music, arguably the best villain songs of any starkid show have to go to Pincer and Junior. Also one of the best love songs?? An incredible I Want Song. And like the planet of bugs they create is so bright and colorful even though they’re limited by budget and the stage, etc., and all the puppets are so cool. It’s just a very good show that is very slept on please watch Starship.

5. Trail to Oregon - So this came out when I was learning about the Oregon trail so this was pretty fun for me. I think this was probably the second or third show I ever watched (first being AVPM) so ngl I have some bias towards it, but the music is good and there are only a few characters to keep track of so I remember them pretty well. The gag of Joey playing all the other characters in Independence is just insanely fun to watch (a performance really only bested by brian in solve it squad) and I don’t care how “mature” I’m supposed to be, I will always laugh at the fart jokes at the end of the show (btw, watch with captions it’s so entertaining).

4. Holy Musical Batman - yes at Batman references, yes at having a similar story to the lego batman movie, and yes at Jeff Blim playing a psycho character. It just feels very classic cartoon inspired, especially with all the puns (which if you didn’t know is a humorous play on words, and that’s where the comedy comes in). I rewatched part of the show the other day, and honestly still makes me laugh as if I’d never seen the show before.

3. A Very Potter Sequel - a glorious blend of all the comedy of AVPM and the emotional heartache of AVPSY. It doesn’t have a Voldemort tap sequence, which the other do have, which is unfortunate, but we do get Stutter, so I’ll let it slide. Also, one of my favorite opening songs of a Starkid show. I just love the show. And I mean I made a poster of Umbridge’s rules that’s hanging in my room I’m pretty committed to the show lol.

2. Twisted - It’s DISNEY and it FEELS DISNEY wtf. I love the twist on Aladdin. I love all the references the show makes.Definitively the best love song in a Starkid show. The emotional climax is so good. All of the twists and explanations about Jafar and Aladdin are great. Jim Povolo’s character is the best character even though i can’t remember his character’s name. THE MUSIC IS SO GOOD. For the longest time this was my favorite show and sometimes it is but at the moment I’m writing this I’m in the mood for the other show.

1. TGWDLM - YES. It may be because I’m working on tgdwlm fanart rn, but yes, I adore this show. Music slaps, story is so good, there is so much comedy, and there is so much analysis I can do about Paul and Emma and the apocalypse in general, it’s just wonderful. No wonder a ton of people got into starkid after this show, it was sooooooo good. I watched this when it premiered on youtube, while I was on vacation and could’ve been doing anything else. And the fact that it didn’t have a happy ending like every other show up until this one was so shocking to me and it just makes it so memorable.

god i have to do my homework now don’t i

#starkid #team starkid #avpm #avps #avpsy #twisted #tto #firebringer #tgwdlm #i'm tired i'm not tagging the rest of the shows lol #rambling

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alonelyhollowgram · 4 years

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I Listened To 40 (+1) King Covers

I decided to listen to a bunch of King covers since there are so many and why not? This is my feelings on them. The song is originally by Kanaria sung by Gumi. I don`t know who this post is for. Under the cut due to the length.

Flare - This is the first cover I`ve listened to, so I might be biased. I really like this one. Flare`s deep voice fits the song perfectly and she sounds great with plenty of energy.

Risu - Definitely not bad. I`m kinda missing some pow in her voice though.

Kanata - It sounds good. I do wish she went a bit lower in tone. Also her “hahaha”s felt more like she`s giggling, personally I prefer the clearer “Haha” ones instead.

Towa - Towa`s voice is really great in general and I feel like it shines in songs like this. I`m not the biggest fan of the “pah”s (0:56), it sounds like it has gone through a filter.

Shion - Shion`s cover seems to be the most viewed cover in Hololive and I can understand that. She sings the song a bit softer all around (1:00, for example). This makes the cover feel a bit smugger, which plays with Shion`s strengths.

Roboco - Holy harmonies, batman! That was my first reaction. This was a unique take on the song by adding things like harmonies and extra laughter. She sings some of the lines differently by changing the tone of her voice at certain points reflecting the lyrics. However, I feel like her voice becomes a bit too airy at some points in the songs, especially at the high notes (0:21). This is a bit off topic, but shout-out to the English subtitles! You can tell that effort has been put into it.

Matsuri - It sounds fine, but it doesn`t really stick out. I really like the way she rolls R in Ratata (1:28) though, so much that it`s kind of a highlight of the cover.

Watame - Her voice fits this song. I`m not entirely sure what the choir (?) is (0:52). It`s a bit strange, but it doesn`t detract from the cover. I like her “Haha”s.

Sora - Sora`s cover isn`t very intimidating/threatening, I find it rather cute! I really like how the “pah”s goes in the left ear and in the right ear independently. The instrumental kinda sticks out too.

Reine - Wooow. That was great! I`m at the point that I can really appreciate someone having a different take on this song. The remix sounds good, the MV adds a lot of energy and Reine sounds good too, of course.

Sukoya - Let`s finally step out of Hololive. Yeah, this is pretty good. She sings this a bit softer (like Shion) which fits her well.

Chima - Good. This cover uses a bit of an echo thing which I think makes it sound better (1:07).

Asano Sisters - I think the one singing is Ruri? I`m not familar with them. It doesn`t really stick out, but she sings it well.

Nui - Her voice is smooth. She also uses the choir effect, not as effectively as others though. Not the biggest fan of her “Haha”s.

Kizuna Ai - This is the 15th one I`ve listened to in a row She sings it well, but it doesn`t stick out.

Gero - This is the first cover by a guy I`ve listened too. Just that makes it special. I like it a lot. The instrumental sounds unique with an organ sound at times and it has extra voice effects.

Luz - This one uses a lot of backing voices like a creepy whisper and more. Pretty OK all around.

Meychan - Pretty good. Not much more to add.

Nanana - This one surprised me. It was a pretty standard cover until 1:40 when her voice became deeper, and the avatar changed to someone with shorter hair! Very exciting. Just by being different makes this one better.

Soraru - He sounds good. I like his “Haha”s.

Kagura Nana - Pretty good. She adds laughter in the background sometimes and puts her voice through a filter. It makes it sound different. The last “you are king” (2:14) was really cute.

Lumi Celestia - This cover was sung very soft and airy. It doesn`t sound as good as I`d like. Another shout-out to the English subtitles. They are really nice.

Kotone - I like her voice. Sounds strong.

Kuzuha - I think this might be the cover with the most views. Wow. i get it. He sounds good and the song fits him.

Shien - His voice is nice. It fits the song. His “haha”s are a bit weak.

Alfakyun - There are multiple people singing this, right? It sticks out on that alone. Well, it sounds nice.

Rinu - I like how she sings this. Makes it feel different than the others.

Honma - Wow the MV! I haven`t been this excited since Reine`s cover. I`m not that into her voice, it`s a bit too squeaky.

Inamtr/ 猪七祭 -いなまつり - This one gave me quite the laugh haha.

Rion - This was nice. Her laughs were cute.

Tojiro - I wasn`t very into his voice, but sometimes he sings kind of like a growl which is interesting.

Shima - Back with the choir and organ thing. It sounds fine, but it doesn`t stick out.

Mafumafu feat. nqrse - This was a pleasant surprise. It starts off with an original rap. This version is a duet. Both do a good job, the inclusion of nqrse was a good decision. It sticks out a lot.

Tamaki - It`s fine. He doesn`t sound as good with the high notes though.

Sukoya (again) - Turns out there is another version. This time it`s a remix by DJ WILDPARTY. At this point I`m just happy for something different. It sounds good, but some parts are better than others.

Utako Suzuka - This one reminds me of Nanana`s cover because both change their voices to be more masculine later in the song. I prefer Nanana`s cover over this one, but it still sounds fine.

Melissa - This cover isn`t that different from the rest, but I like it a lot. They sing it well and from 1:55 and to the end is unique with the growl Melissa does and more.

Kaida Haru - This cover can get rather breathy at points lol. I`m not the biggest fan of that.

Chigusa - I think this song shows off her vocals well. This is another that changes voices in the middle of the song. From short hair to long hair this time contrasting the others that changes the voices. It sounds good.

Leona - Her voice fits this song well. Sounds nice all around. I`m into it.

*Belmond - It`s been a couple days since I listened to the King covers, so the break gave me time to clear my mind. The first though I had after listening to Belmond`s version is wow. He made the song his own. The first 30-ish seconds was quite the first impression. I thought it was really cool. The entire instrumental felt like that to me, it was nice. Belmond`s voice is so powerful in this song. It sounds good, and it complements the instrumental well. The video itself is also nice. The smoke is a nice touch.

I`m done! Wow, that took some time. I was probably more open to the starting ones than the rest. I guess that`s what happens after listening to the same song so many times. I`ll take a long break from this song haha.

Anyway, here is a list of the standouts:

Flare: She was the first cover I listened to and I do really like it.

Reine: This one was very good. Definitely worth a listen.

Roboco: This was very unique.

Nanana: The change is pretty cool.

Inamtr: This one gave me a laugh.

Mafumafu feat. nqrse: Another unique one.

*Melissa: Yeah, I thought this one was nice.

*Belmond: This might be recency bias kicking in, but still.

(* signifies an edit.)

#Vtuber #Vtubers #Hololive #Nijisanji #King #Kanaria #god i have way too much free time #My post

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